It began as the GODFATHER OF MATH, evolved into the GOODFATHER OF MATH. Now this. Go figure...

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The kind of humor I like is the thing that makes me laugh for five seconds and think for ten minutes = G. CARLIN...Stain glass, engraved glass, frosted glass
–give me plain glass = JOHN FOWLES ... Music is the mathematics of the gods=PYTHAGORAS ... Nothing is more fluid than language = R. L. SWIHART
I cannot live without the oxygen of laughter = DAWN POWELL ... !!! ... But laughter cannot survive without the hydrogen of gravitas = PAUL OLIVERIO
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Thursday, October 27, 2022

A Long-Winded Poem About A Pic

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I have known Sandy Beach
since before the age of two
and with down-bottom reluctance
I present this pic to you

I still dream about a lifeguard
named Bikini Jones
and about the picture below:
I make no bones

It's a crappy photo
but it must be posted
[the septuagenarian boasted]

I had my only swimming lesson
at the age of one
when dear old dad
wanted to have fun

In his arms
with soft shoulders
I could not feel 
more secure
when all I wanted was
"more and more"

I was wet-tushed
on the shoreline
and it felt divine

But he dropped the tot
all of two inch
he re-secured me
and I smiled louder
than Lousiana

All of this is fact
—not a dream—
but during that "drop"
I did scream
...

It was 1950
and this poem is
soon to end.
My first Sandy Beach
was the north shore
of Long Island
 
Bikini Jones' birth name
was Beth 
and that scream could be heard
from Montauk to Maspeth
 
But that Louisiana smile
did guarantee
a million beach hours
being totally
fear-free
 
About this pic
and memory of Bikini Jones:
I danced on everyone
of these stepping stones
***
©  PAUL OLIVERIO  ©
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6 comments:

  1. When a poem is "pure fact" it is less a poem
    and more of a Memorex Memory.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your comment is brilliant, may I post it (as a self-standing page)?

      For the record, I never said "pure fact."
      I only used the single word "fact"

      Delete
    2. NO: you may not post it as a self-standing page on your blog.

      YOU didn't have to say "Pure Fact" because I did
      but please tell me, honestly: what part "everything"
      in this beautiful poem is Poetic License?

      Delete
    3. Well, here goes:

      Bikini Jones was not there in 1950
      but I desperately needed something to rhyme
      with "stepping stones."

      The model for Ms. Jones entered my life when I was fourteen.
      Her real name was KATHY KEATING and she was
      part of my beach crowd in Rocky Point.

      We swam long distances together and
      then she would stretch out in her yellow bikini
      and flowing blond hair on a red beach towel
      while I ate a tuna fish sandwich and pretended
      not to stare at her.

      She inspired this couplet:
      Her legs were long enough
      to make a man dream in stereo.


      Stupidly, I never let her know I loved her
      but for thirty years I dreamt about us
      swimming together a half-mile off-shore.

      I have no friggin' idea if she is dead or alive

      Delete
  2. Does Mrs. CarPeo know about Kathy Keating?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many years ago, after she told me about
      the first love of her life, I told her
      about Kathy Keating

      Delete