tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post2196851671959971454..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: On entering the double digitsCord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-35100001951796035612007-05-08T03:19:00.000-04:002007-05-08T03:19:00.000-04:00The Mongolian BBQ, eh? As I recall, that's the st...The Mongolian BBQ, eh? As I recall, that's the standard destination for couples from the local high school who are going to the prom...it'll happen to your little guy before you know it.JKWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14965566773252227387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-44705837393646346532007-05-07T14:23:00.000-04:002007-05-07T14:23:00.000-04:00Josh, thanks for that, I'm wiping a tear from my e...Josh, thanks for that, I'm wiping a tear from my eye. That sentimental stuff always gets to me ... it's tempting to mail the poem to Lee Edelman.<BR/><BR/>"Anonymous": the words of a mother. Glad you liked this post on our little guy.Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-79447666213266386832007-05-07T14:19:00.000-04:002007-05-07T14:19:00.000-04:00No matter how elongated he gets, he'll always be a...No matter how elongated he gets, he'll always be a sweet young man and a great brother, who truly WILL be a medievalist (focusing on science, nature and beasts)someday! Sigh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-4763056573995440812007-05-07T14:15:00.000-04:002007-05-07T14:15:00.000-04:00Any day you can read a Billy Collins poem is a bet...Any day you can read a Billy Collins poem is a better day. Here's one I've always liked that is apropos. (And I know a couple fart jokes too, in case he hates poetry.)<BR/><BR/>On Turning Ten<BR/><BR/>The whole idea of it makes me feel<BR/>like I'm coming down with something,<BR/>something worse than any stomach ache<BR/>or the headaches I get from reading in bad light--<BR/>a kind of measles of the spirit,<BR/>a mumps of the psyche,<BR/>a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.<BR/><BR/>You tell me it is too early to be looking back,<BR/>but that is because you have forgotten<BR/>the perfect simplicity of being one<BR/>and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.<BR/>But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.<BR/>At four I was an Arabian wizard.<BR/>I could make myself invisible<BR/>by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.<BR/>At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.<BR/><BR/>But now I am mostly at the window<BR/>watching the late afternoon light.<BR/>Back then it never fell so solemnly<BR/>against the side of my tree house,<BR/>and my bicycle never leaned against the garage<BR/>as it does today,<BR/>all the dark blue speed drained out of it.<BR/><BR/>This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,<BR/>as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.<BR/>It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,<BR/>time to turn the first big number.<BR/><BR/>It seems only yesterday I used to believe<BR/>there was nothing under my skin but light.<BR/>If you cut me I could shine.<BR/>But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,<BR/>I skin my knees. I bleed.<BR/><BR/>-----<BR/>Now he has to wait twelve more years before A. E. Houseman's "When I was one-and-twenty" becomes relevant...but only two before Gary Soto's "Oranges"!joshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03208813043756621394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-23633063631601745092007-05-07T10:26:00.000-04:002007-05-07T10:26:00.000-04:00Ah-hem. If it makes him feel any better, you may ...Ah-hem. If it makes him feel any better, you may let him know that they were still offering me the freakin kids' menu when I was 19. Well, some of them were anyway.<BR/><BR/>I realize I look young for my age, but seriously?!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com