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Writer's pictureL. Roy Aiken

Fatherly Advice to My Old Fatherless Self

Updated: Jul 10, 2021

Dammit, boy, you’re safe now

You’ve been safe a long time now


It’s been years

since you’ve suffered the need

to tell people what you’re up to

what you’re reading

what you’re thinking


only to be derided, demeaned

dismissed

(this happened every time it’s as if I’d refused to learn)


or (just as bad)

having to hear how someone

else somehow does everything

more and better

than you do


their suffering

their ecstasy

they were epic


yours was anecdote


“you teach people how to treat you”

“if everyone you meet is an asshole

you’re the asshole

Asshole”


the gasbags

the alpha doggers

the game-players

the loud-mouthed

pushy-shovey

fill-the-room like a

hot fart

types are now one

old man’s stories

told for the amusement

and possible edification

of whoever’s listening


and if they’ve found a

way to take permanent

residence in your head

they don’t necessarily

have to live there

rent-free


put them to work


their derision and dismissals

will be your best coaches

for when you meet their counterparts

who will surely come


when they smell your success

and are thus maddened

by the idea of the happiness

they’re sure came with it.



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