and soon to become freshly minted Uncle,
BUT even for that occasion will refrain
from disavowing being a teetotaller...,
who abstains from drink and smoke,
plus coon sitters himself an herbivore.
Though never an athlete,
gifted student, nor social animal
exception to the rule
being a scape goat,
(who now utteral
a rebuttal with horns
where foo fighting, bigger brawnier
beastie boys taunted, teased,
tortured (but did not bind)
timorous me then
(approximately fifty years ago)
did inducing me to bleat -
(often spelled bleat)
the characteristic wavering,
high-pitched cry
made by a sheep, goat, or calf
without yours truly uttering a peep
caused these lovely bones,
(which lacked for meat)
smolder with anger
and feel livid with rage
still harbors unpleasant memories
thus hoop fully explaining why
this wordsmith reluctant
to attend reunions
plus alcohol verboten
regarding mental health issues
kept in check (mate) courtesy
countless prescription medications
linkedin (predicated
on my near
infinite wisdom and hunch -
backed up
(despite never setting foot
in Notre Dame)
recalling grueling futile efforts
to comprehend information
no doubt associated
with developmental delay
(most likely congenital,
which means I acquired
a genetic mutation)
id est high functioning
Asperger/autism),
which nearly spelled demise
of failing (safely)
nearly every grade
minus kindergarten
and the latter half of second grade.
Unlike my eldest sister,
I hashtag her
as a social butterfly,
whose attended
Methacton High School,
and graduated
two years before me,
she also throve
with flying colors
as did my youngest
of the three Harris progeny,
who became
a star student alumna
of aforementioned alma mater
where self and older sibling attended.
All throughout within
the hallowed and storied halls,
I slunk along the walls
averting gazing at everyone,
and disappointing myself
never hello toward a pretty lass
who struck fancy
unsure if she would laugh
at a diminutive, introverted,
outlier and uber wall flower
forsaking the academic
and sports environment,
nor never did this middling student,
who passed by the skin of his then teeth
(before being diagnosed
with periodontal disease
wrought havoc and compromised
pearly whites becoming manifested
while orbitz around the sun
totally just on the cusp
of being a fool
over the hill as tricenarian
and into the quadragenarian dale
necessitated dentures
as the only viable option
since oral musculoskeletal system,
(the complex structural network
of muscles, bones, joints, ligaments,
and tendons that make up
the mouth and jaw area),
and I still mourn loss
of pearly whites,
a total of three wisdom
and four local extraction,
donning braces twice
and undergoing
maxillary osteotomy,
which single song and
never made the top billboard charts.
Post operative blues, (I pony up that in the mane, no horse sense sans stirrups when this poetic victual composed about three and a hoof plus decades ago of caw horse).
chorus:
maxillary osteotomy aint no fun
for it
deprived me of sleep from
blood encrusted nasal passages,
congestion of the throat
protrusion of wires into
upper and lower inside of gums
and
contained a warning
from the surgeon general
not to blow nose or sneeze.
1st verse:
ten days after the operation man
and at last
some sign of feelin good
(or maybe I just
got used to all this pain)
can be felt in fits and starts.
chorus:
2nd verse
still my body protested
any minimal amount
of physical exertion.
it quivered and swayed
and found me faint hearted
and light-headed.
chorus:
3rd verse
faith in the healing power
of my body
kept me optimistic
about a time
in the distant future
when all will be well.
chorus:
Adieu from Matthew Scott Harris
currently a Schwenksvill, Pennsylvania resident
class of 1977.