Shel Silverstein: Pressed Between the Pages by Rusty C Arquette
I climbed the stairs last Thursday
Through dust and darkness
up narrow steps
and groped about for the light
in the attic
I saw the trunk sitting heavy and silent
in the center of the gloom
I flipped latches and eased the lid upright
listening to the hinges cry a
tired lament
Inside
Beneath the collection of junk
Sci-Fi movie posters from the 50s
McGovern political buttons from the 60s
a beaded leather jacket from the 70s
lay the aging prize
The clay-based print was fading
the acid in the paper browning,
but there, in neat stacks sitting
were the Playboys of my youth
I smiled and noted the ladies
Posing, pouting, and prudish
by the standards of today
and though they beckoned
my male libido to pause
I moved on instead
Id come in search of words
and the line drawings
that accompanied them
Familiar pages presenting
selected themes on nudist camps,
a pretentious orgy for swingers,
and cocktail parties of the hip
The often naked folks drawn here
Were the comic exaggerations
of the beautiful people shown
in the dusty black & white photos
that shared the page
I couldnt help but laugh
at the squiggly drawings
and the witty words
Id forgotten about
the Scout Handbook parody,
and the ABZs
still hilarious after all those years
in this dusty trunk
Kids laughter rises high
from where the sidewalk ends
and the shell road stops
happy sounds that remind me
of another neglected treasure
The trunk is closed
the light goes off
and Im back upon the stairs
down in the kids toy strewn room
next to the Velveteen Rabbit
a dozen Disney and two dozen Dr. Seuss
are more squiggly drawn treasures
with those familiar funny dancing words
I sit Buddha like among the mess
the book cradled in my lap
each page brings a smile
each page brings a truth
about the bald headed man
the barefoot troubadour
the menacing Turk with the dark eyes
who stares forever unchanged
from the picture on the dust jacket
on the back of the book
Brings truth about the reader
and all those wholl read again
its the way we are
silly, lonely, and so damned incomplete
He knew this
he knew the feelings
like always falling up
when no one was around
This is where my son finds me
What cha doin pop? he questions
a tiny furrow across his brow
Just visiting an old friend, son
and he quickly slides into my lap
Hes here in the book? he asks,
On every single page
just look
We both flip the pages wide eyed
reading poems by the score
Laughing at the witty rhymes
and all the squiggly drawings
like weve done
a hundred times before
So wheres the man now, pop,
who made this funny book?
Suddenly it came back to me
just why I was sitting there
The man was gone at 68
moved on too damn soon
died alone on Mothers Day
but little boys
dont want to hear the dreary
for them lifes alive and young
I answered, Hes right in here
and patted his small chest
And in here patting mine
In your heart pop?
Yep
He pulled out another book
the green cover gave it away
the squiggly wiggly tree
You must really likeem pop...
because I keep the people
I love in my heart
Truth comes in many sizes
06/15/2000 Author's Note: For Shel Silverstein..one of a kind..and my son Duster...another one of a kind...two people I keep right here... (RCat pats his chest..smiling)
Posted on 08/26/2006 Copyright © 2024 Rusty C Arquette
Member Comments on this Poem |
Posted by A. Paige White on 08/26/06 at 02:07 PM Loved this Rusty. I paid $16.00 a few years ago for one... "Oh, the places you'll go" for graduates. It's a treasure. Children are awesome teachers. Especially grandchildren. They are the dessert of life's meal.
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Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 08/27/06 at 12:12 AM Irrepressible Shel Silverstein - I will love him forever. Thanks for the memories. |
Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 08/27/06 at 02:59 AM Wonderfully warm, tender, and nostalgic. Especially liked the stanzas concerning Shel and ending with father and son! |
Posted by Charles E Minshall on 08/30/06 at 10:38 PM This one is funtastic Rusty as is Shels books...Charlie |
Posted by Leslie Ann Eisenberg on 09/02/06 at 06:47 PM incredible. i know my ABZ's too, and still enjoy them, and now with my son. thank you for sharing your memories. beautifully rendered! PK |
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