I remember when I was just a kid
My father after having supper
Would drive up to Jakes delicatessen
On ocean Ave. all by himself
And come back with one bag
Of Wise onion and garlic potato chips
There were in a green bag
And he would sit in a rocking chair
With his pants unbuckled
Not saying one word to anyone
And eat the entire bag all by himself
He would dig into the bag like an animal
Finishing the entire bag
With all his small children watching him
Never asking anyone if they wanted any
He always did things like this
Always a greedy selfish stingy little man
With a terrible attitude
And if he did speak
He would warm us to get upstairs and get undressed
And get ready for the beating of your life
Those were his exact words
As my mother was in the kitchen
Drinking her tea and cutting out 2 cent coupons
While sticking S&H green stamps in this little book
And set into another world altogether
With the dishes piled up high to the ceiling
No conversation in site what so ever
Now I will have you know these people were rich
They were millionaires
My brother and sister and I
Would sit around watching this big
Andrea black and white
French provincial television set
And no one would say a word to each other
Or to him
And he would not say anything to anyone
We were too afraid, I know I was
I thought everybody lived like this
Until I relished years later
My family was completely
Dysfunctional narcissistic people
And my grandfather would roll over in his grave
To see what these people have done
To his once-great family
Tip of the iceberg summer evening 1965..
- Ken Riccio original poems ©
