Do you care for Mr. Read?

Mr Read needs no introduction.

Nobody cares for you Mr. Read
But I keep on smiling at your persistence
Striving every morning & every day
As you sip your morning tea with ginger
And read the foul news of yesterdays.

You do that leap downstairs and upstairs
As your legs entwine with that of the pet cat
Whose antics amuse you at the same time
As they remind you of someone
Who is close but distant
Who understands but is helpless
Who cares but from far away.

Nobody cares for you Mr. Read
As you sit down later in the day
At the cowshed corner you created for yourself
And rectify and re-rectify your writings.
Do you really need to do that
When all I know about you is
You are special and leagues above
With those whom you compete
And fight.

Your book releases in new covers
It is a treat to see the pleasure in your glowering eyes
As you hover along excitedly from this generation's magic box
To last generation's dream weaver.
Your naivety coupled with your intelligence is a rare combo
Someone who is utterly and totally socially numb
To someone who reawakens society for new mornings and better times.

Nobody cares for you Mr. Read
Except those who have ever read your words
Or have sometimes talked with you
Over long distance calls
Or proximal breakfast teas
Or over voices hovering in a city messed with traffic horns and blares.

You have followers Mr. Read
Invisible ones like me
Or Visible ones like those who have read you
Or have been cured by your touch
Or have been healed by your humanity.

Mr. Read, when you were young
I wasn't there to see you
But I saw where all your breads went
To the pet's stomach
How cats would roll unto you to snatch your fever
How the bat struck the ball
Of how your first poem was a success in itself
How you were never understood but were always felt.

Mr. Read, I know the now lost days of your youth
When you did so many things in so less time
And how you never really turned old even if you did
How you are still fifty one for the seventh time.

I can give you all the address of Mr. Read
If you want to drink some sugarless tea in the mornings
And discuss poetry and prose all day long.
If you have no issues with unpredictable cats
And stark lonely houses.
If you want to watch boundless greenery
And read
I will give you the address of Dear ole Mr. Read


© Nothing Personal. January 30, 2011.

Author's Note

Some one I know, some one I care

Reviews

[angelina]

It left me speechless. This is a category I've never approached before and you, you've done a great job. It makes me think, when you mentioned Mr. Reads tea with ginger and the offered sugarless tea to 'you,' and then the details that 'I' spouts out, the differences that are 'you' and Mr. Read, and then 'I'. The clash between characters was what was most appealing and powerful to me. It's quite an attractive poem in all.

[MuSe Ampoule]

Such a remarkably tender piece and a lovely write to someone near and dear! I could go on but others have. So I'll say very touching! Thanks for sharing!

[?]

Awesome tribute to what sounds like an awesome man.
Wonderful imagery, I now have this wonderful picture in my mind of and old man sitting at a table in the corner drinking his tea with ginger and writing something wonderful for all to read.
Awesome, Loved it

[YouoweYoupay]

I'm so touched...you've described this man like a story, and its obvious you do know him pretty well. Makes me truly want to go over and pay his old, somehow nostalgic place a visit. I really liked the way your poem flowed, and how you mentioned the Misters name repeatedly in a few lines. Thank you for sharing this. Keep writing !

I can give you all the address of Mr. Read
If you want to drink some sugarless tea in the mornings
And discuss poetry and prose all day long.

[Zeitgeist Manifesto]

This is an amazing tribute to a special man.
Mr. Read's entire life and personality has unfolded
in front of us all. I loved it!

[Jeff]

Wonderful work here!

[Arsenic Nemesis]

Fantastic piece of work, left me speechless- great job!~

[Theodore]

great great great poem keep it up.

[roarke]

Marvelous. Meticulous. Masterful.
I can say no more.

[SOUL LESS]

Powerful...no doubt, touching even. It's a nice poem. The ending is awesome.