Pop Pop Daddy and
His Cuss Word Revolution
By khf
Pop Pop Daddy didn’t know my name
Such an easy name to know
If he knew my name
he didn’t remember it
Such an easy name to remember
If he remembered my name
he didn’t say it
Such an easy name to say
If he said my name
I didn’t hear it
Such a beautiful name to hear.
You must think
I would
or at least
…should
despair
over such a grandfatherly slight
I did not despair…whine…or throw bricks at my brothers.
Water rises
Sun shines
And crystals tumble from the wings of angels
Recompense overcomes me
Showers me with a great deluge of joy
Foul Invectives
Cuss Words
LOUD
HARD
BLUE
…and delicious
So delicious
they dance on my funny bone
and tickle a fancy I did not know I had.
I hear him
two rooms away
cussing like tomorrow is already gone
BLASPHEMOUS
PROFANE
cuss words
explode
like corks from a gun
in order to
bob about in a teacup
Those cuss words
—iridescent soap bubbles--
melt silky on my skin
and…
suddenly…
gloriously…
I. Am. Uncaged.
set loose in a wild sanctuary
of lush absurdity
where words are free
to bounce off walls
and
plop into teacups
This is bliss
puppy-rolling-in-the-snow rapture
Bursts of man-laughter
float through plaster and two-by-fours
five card draw
maybe some beer
Pop Pop Daddy cussing sugar into tea
My father,
exhaling clouds of pipe smoke,
will never display his
dark hand of anger
I am ten
Months ago
my Dad
declared war on me
for now
I am squirreled away
safely
in this homestead
my grandfather built
with sweat and cuss words
and I am
rocket-launch jubilant
ensconced in the opaline of
LOUD. HARD. BLUE.
cuss words
Revolutionary
Radical
WORDS
A primitive rendezvous with spirits of the deep, rich earth
I feel safe…comfortable
I belong to this
strange and familiar yawning
of under-words
where what lives beneath sound
whispers its secrets to me
It seems a homecoming
with the unspoken
the ineffable
Longings that wink
and draw me into their mystery
LOUD. HARD. BLUE. DARK mysteries.
I don’t’ yet understand this collision
of words and longing.
but I will…one day I will…
Here to say
I did not love my grandfather
nor him me
Pop Pop Daddy was not given to such sentiment
maybe it was the drink
or a harming of the heart
or the afflictions of a shy person
No…I didn’t love Pop Pop Daddy
But…oh…how
I loved his words
LOUD. HARD. BLUE. BLASPHEMOUS. PROFANE.
Now,
those were some
goddamn
good
cuss words
khf/10.24.22
His Cuss Word Revolution
By khf
Pop Pop Daddy didn’t know my name
Such an easy name to know
If he knew my name
he didn’t remember it
Such an easy name to remember
If he remembered my name
he didn’t say it
Such an easy name to say
If he said my name
I didn’t hear it
Such a beautiful name to hear.
You must think
I would
or at least
…should
despair
over such a grandfatherly slight
I did not despair…whine…or throw bricks at my brothers.
Water rises
Sun shines
And crystals tumble from the wings of angels
Recompense overcomes me
Showers me with a great deluge of joy
Foul Invectives
Cuss Words
LOUD
HARD
BLUE
…and delicious
So delicious
they dance on my funny bone
and tickle a fancy I did not know I had.
I hear him
two rooms away
cussing like tomorrow is already gone
BLASPHEMOUS
PROFANE
cuss words
explode
like corks from a gun
in order to
bob about in a teacup
Those cuss words
—iridescent soap bubbles--
melt silky on my skin
and…
suddenly…
gloriously…
I. Am. Uncaged.
set loose in a wild sanctuary
of lush absurdity
where words are free
to bounce off walls
and
plop into teacups
This is bliss
puppy-rolling-in-the-snow rapture
Bursts of man-laughter
float through plaster and two-by-fours
five card draw
maybe some beer
Pop Pop Daddy cussing sugar into tea
My father,
exhaling clouds of pipe smoke,
will never display his
dark hand of anger
I am ten
Months ago
my Dad
declared war on me
for now
I am squirreled away
safely
in this homestead
my grandfather built
with sweat and cuss words
and I am
rocket-launch jubilant
ensconced in the opaline of
LOUD. HARD. BLUE.
cuss words
Revolutionary
Radical
WORDS
A primitive rendezvous with spirits of the deep, rich earth
I feel safe…comfortable
I belong to this
strange and familiar yawning
of under-words
where what lives beneath sound
whispers its secrets to me
It seems a homecoming
with the unspoken
the ineffable
Longings that wink
and draw me into their mystery
LOUD. HARD. BLUE. DARK mysteries.
I don’t’ yet understand this collision
of words and longing.
but I will…one day I will…
Here to say
I did not love my grandfather
nor him me
Pop Pop Daddy was not given to such sentiment
maybe it was the drink
or a harming of the heart
or the afflictions of a shy person
No…I didn’t love Pop Pop Daddy
But…oh…how
I loved his words
LOUD. HARD. BLUE. BLASPHEMOUS. PROFANE.
Now,
those were some
goddamn
good
cuss words
khf/10.24.22