| |
Mothers of America
let your kids go to the
movies
get them out of the house so they
won't
know what you're up to
it's true that fresh
air is good for the body
but what about the
soul
that grows in darkness, embossed by
silvery
images
and when you grow old as grow old
you
must
they won't hate you
they won't
criticize you they won't know
they'll be in some
glamorous
country
they first saw on a Saturday
afternoon or
playing hookey
they may even be
grateful to you
for their first sexual
experience
which only cost you a quarter
and
didn't upset the peaceful
home
they will know
where candy bars come
from
and gratuitous bags of
popcorn
as gratuitous as leaving the movie
before
it's over
with a pleasant stranger whose
apartment
is in the Heaven on
Earth Bldg
near
the Williamsburg Bridge
oh mothers you will have
made
the little
tykes
so happy because if
nobody does pick
them up in the movies
they won't
know the difference
and if somebody does it'll
be
sheer gravy
and they'll have been truly
entertained
either way
instead of hanging around
the yard
or up in their room hating
you
prematurely since you won't have done
anything
horribly mean
yet
except keeping them from life's
darker joys
it's unforgivable the latter
so don't
blame me if you won't take this
advice
and the
family breaks up
and your children grow old and blind
in
front of a TV set
seeing
movies you wouldn't
let them see when
they were young
Frank
O'Hara
Read poems about / on: candy,
america,
family,
hate,
house,
children,
happy,
heaven,
home,
child
|
|
User Rating: |
|
7.8 /10
(4 votes) |
|
|
|
Frank O'Hara 
Free Poetry E-Book: 37 poems of
Frank O'Hara
E-mail this poem to e
friend