Day: February 18, 2021

it’s
my
birth day

february 18th

the date
of the month
I was born

74 years ago

so — wha’cha’ thinkin’?
happy — birth — day

well
not if you’d been there

I was an “undesired”
an inconvenient child
a discard
to be thrown away

though I was healthy
had all my fingers
all my toes
and lungs of a tenor

no matter

I was labeled — MISTAKE!
misbegotten
unfortunate
a problem

ultimately
to be left behind
alone
abandonned

so
I was placed
in a cold metal orphanage crib
frequently
with others
like me

in a big
sparse
cold room

overseen
by strange
grey-habit’d
amorphous figures

I had been tried
convicted
sentenced
for my early life
to know confusion

know shame

know the sorrow
of the unwanted

without ever
seein’
my accusers

we’d won the big war
over there

in here
my battle had just begun

and for the next few years
struggle I did

but some of that’s
for another story
which does include a hero

here I was
condemned

guilty only
of the crime
of inconvenience

so
today
it is my birth day

some
happy / birth / day —- huh?

well
apparently not for all
who were present that day

happy birthday?

hmmm…

lotsa ole friends have passed away
COVID-19’s running astray
normal life is on delay
the world’s nerves are in a fray

but hey
as for me today
I’m doin’ — OK!