The Mad Poet of the Year blog posts share the poetry of a long-time Mad Poet. This year-long appointment provides readers with a deep dive of the writer’s work and thoughts on poetry. We are thrilled to have R. G. Evans serve as the Mad Poet of the Year for 2022.
GOOD GRIEF
by R.G. Evans
At the high school’s winter concert,
the frowning old man across the aisle
starts bopping his head and smiles
when the band begins to play
A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Sweet. A little miracle. But then
I see he’s not that old--my age,
I’d say--and my own foot is tapping, too.
The band hits the jazzy little piano riff
and my chest opens like a silver dish,
a magician producing a dove. Ta-DA!
It flaps white wings and I’m back
belly-down on the ratty brown carpet
in my parents’ living room.
Our first color TV has only three channels
and on one of them, that round-headed
sad sack is mourning his pathetic tree.
Good grief. Behind me sit my parents.
I feel them more than see them. They are alive
and I am young, so many years to go
before time strips all greenery from our tree.
Linus with his blanket. Schroeder’s piano.
Lucy selling therapy at five cents a pop.
The frowning man with a smile on his face
closes his eyes and I know
he's in his own childhood's house.
It's good, this grief, these wings
lifting us both toward the light.
Good grief, bless old men
as they wander cartoon pasts
on the melodies of beautiful children.
Grief, be good to young musicians
when so many years transpose their keys to minor.
Let a white dove light in the saddest of trees.
Let us always remember this song.
This poem from my latest book, Imagine Sisyphus Happy, originally appeared in Tiferet. Uplifting poems rarely present themselves in my writing, perhaps as rare as passing moments of joy such as the one in this poem. Who knows when such joy will arise? Luckily sometimes we recognize that moments such as this deserve to be memorialized in poems.
R.G. Evans’s books include Overtipping the Ferryman (Aldrich Poetry Press Prize), The Holy Both, and Imagine Sisyphus Happy. His original songs were featured in the poetry documentaries All That Lies Between Us and Unburying Malcolm Miller, and his collection of original songs, Sweet Old Life, is available on most streaming platforms. Evans teaches creative writing at Rowan University. Website: www.rgevanswriter.com