They buried my grandpa Charles.
We got the call from Adriana (his other ex-wife),
Left on our machine at “Monday. Five. Thirty. P. M.”
No other messages by the way.
I took a bath; sinking head into soapy murk.
“Did GOD kill grandpa because I want to die?”
Grandpa visited once; he stayed in my room,
And told me he had 10 wives, and a Japanese girlfriend with tiny hands.
Like so much in life, grandpa’s funeral was open mic.
I like attention so I thought of a reason to get up and talk.
And then I cried because I knew
That I knew nothing of the man.
“Daddy cried”, my sister said. (I’ve never seen the man tear)
but Daddy said that Grandpa left him and Uncle Jimmy when he was my age.
Uncle Jimmy says that Grandpa Charles once bought him jeans,
But then he kicked him out when he was eighteen.
Uncle Oliver is the other son (he’s a hippie),
He had a lot to say on microphone.
Uncle Oliver was a Buddhist and a Christian, (He said that you can do that sort of thing)
And Grandpa once bailed him out of jail for protesting.
Daddy didn’t have enough money for college,
So he dropped out and drove a bus.
Daddy likes driving buses.
Grandpa Charles was a great man, (Dr. of law from Yale)
A lot of people were at his funeral in Parkridge, New Jersey (where Dick Nixon grew up).
Daddy always said he’d be a better father
When he was my age.
Uncle Jimmy and Daddy didn’t say anything into the mic,
I wonder if they ever wanted to die.
In the beginning I didn’t cry, though I tried really hard,
But by the end I couldn’t stop. (knowing there was nothing to cry about)
