TKO - inside is where the fight lays

my brother's pseudo-bedroom/the office for my pseudo-politicain father has found itself fighting the tides

Dull yellow walls are the ropes around this boxing ring where youth and convention face off.
ding - round 1

Left jab for Responsibility-
Bright stick-it notes are a constant reminder of the ever-pressing concerns of the constituents of the 4th ward - "Helen K., 14 Gaskin Rd. - sidewalk cracks".

grit your teeth kid.

Right hook for Youth -A paperback copy of "A Moon for the Misbegotten" on the bookshelf. The inside cover reads "Dan - Merry Christmas, will never forget the drunk caroling."

POP POP,
adulthood claps back hard-A copy of "Strunk And White - Elements of Style for the Professional", it lies underneath a sheet of "Friends of the Democratic Party" return address stickers


20's - BBC.com homepage, Robert J. Fox framed haiku "dare to have a vision firm, dare to stand alone", Little League game ball "Italian Center 2, Elks 0 6/18/93",

50's - stapler conveniently sitting on top of a box of "500 Count Extra staples", J.J. Doyle Memorial Golf Outing invitation, reading glasses, empty tumbler glass with toothpick and olive inside

muscles glisten from sweat reflected by the desk lamp

Son - Thesaurus
Pops - Concise English Handbook
2 AM pass outs - "Denial of Death" by Ernest Becker
Evelyn, set the alarm for 7:15 - "Let Peace Fill My Heart" -paxchristusa.org

-The fans around the house are lights out, the silence is deafening

idealism? - polaroid of his apartment in palestine
reality? - plastic tub of city of Poughkeepsie real-estate assessments
The future at night - Dickens "Great Expectations"
The future 9am-5pm - Steinbeck "Of Mice and Men"
OJ out of the carton - Springsteen "Born to Run"
Eddie Bauer Travel coffee mug - Van Morrison "Brown Eyed Girl"

I can barely watch.


Brother - "There's a lot more to life than belts and callars"
Dad - "4.0? Wow, you're really keeping your options open, Friendly's to celebrate?"
Brother - "You gonna use the wood bat or you be a buster and use metal?"
Dad - "I need an itinerary of your travel plans if you think i'm gonna support this."
Brother - "You're not just gonna come right home are you?"
Dad - "Mow the lawn, make sure you bag the front."
Brother - "come down on the train, crash on the couch...waffles in the morning"
Dad - "You really wanna know how work was?"
Brother - "my Urban Planning professor came to happy hour with us!"

Dad - "I don't know how to make it better...how would you? Our proposed budget already demands a 2% tax increase"
Brother - "there's a way we can make this world work and still have our hot showers and cold beers"

Dad - "I have faith, I know I'll see my parents again." shakes his head "there's good in the world John, there's goodness out there, you have to have faith in people. It's worth believing in."
Brother - "and then jimmy carter came and didn't bitch out like hillary did 6 months ago. he condemned the checkpoints."

Dad - "Hold on, let me hear this interview"
Brother - "Did you see that diving play Jeter made?"

Dad - "It seems like a lot, but I enjoy my work John, I don't feel like I'm cutting myself short"
Brother - "You can't feel guily, it ain't a sin to be glad you're alive."

Me - "I'm trying"
Me - "I'm trying"