Allow Me My Foolish Mortality….by Robert M. Katzman
Thanksgiving, 2011
Allow me my foolish mortality
My assumption of being more
Than meets the eye
The illusion of my value
Enduring beyond a moment
The weight of an observation
A measured interpretation of
Another’s expression
Calculating the risks of
My children’s relationships
Who weighs the value of such judgments?
What makes one’s past words more than
Faint rustling of dead leaves?
Are my pronouncements a telegraph
Clicking only on my end of the line?
Why do I seek
God’s
Confidence of reception?
More than a pebble
Less than a comet
Like all of us, ultimately
Ending as a grain of sand on a shore
Shorn of singularity and distinction
As time passes and contemporaries fade
Increasingly I am
A file
A complaint
An unread letter to the editor
I pray thee
Allow me my foolish mortality
That my wisdom will endure
My memory be treasured
That my words will linger in the air
Unchallenged by the wind
I will seek contentment
With now
With the comfort I can deliver
With appreciation of transient beauty
And for a moment in time
Perhaps I mattered
*******
About the writer and his other life in Skokie, Illinois:
Bob Katzman’s Magazine Museum: 100,000 periodicals back to 1576!
Wall of Rock: 50 years of cool Rock periodicals on display & for sale
4906 Oakton St. (8000 north and 4900 west) Skokie, Ill 60077
(847)677-9444 Mon-Fri: 10 am to 5 pm / Weekends: 10 am to 2 pm
Katzman’s Publishing Company site: www.FightingWordsPubco.com
Katzman’s online non-fiction stories: www.DifferentSlants.com
Poetry? For me, writing poetry is not an option.
It’s a response to emotion. Like cigarette smoke,
it’s fast-flowing, shapeless and with little time to capture it.
Writing poetry in an imperative. I say what I feel compelled to say.
I sell my five published books via mail order and accept major credit cards.
I don’t use PayPal. I just talk to people on the phone.
Fast, reliable service. Read my stories and see what you think.
I’m also available for hire to read my true Chicago stories to organizations
and answer all questions. I autograph my books when I sell them.
I am currently seeking an agent to do more readings.
Feel free to call me at the number above.