I once worked with a guy who could not stop telling jokes. I knew when he approached he wanted to give me some humor but sometimes it was just a little too much for me but I didn’t say anything. And sure some of the jokes were offensive but I would let him go for it, give him the laughs he wanted and let him move on. He never did move on from telling me jokes but he tried them on someone else and really let him have it. He stopped telling jokes after that. I miss his jokes.
Anyways, I never gave this to him. I told him, “Hey I see you are a jokester. Do you mind if I show you who I am?” “What are you an alien?” He jokes. “No I write poems for people. I wrote a poem about you and I really think you will get a kick out of it.” He responds with, “It’s okay, I don’t need a poem.”
It was hard to tell if he was joking or not.
a magnificent man
and
beautiful boy
tag team the neighborhood
to repair the underneath
of sinks where local ladies
might leak
plumbers need
younger assistants
to convince local ladies
that their sinks
need fixing
for the boy’s first door
he got brought by a man
in deep voice and told,
keep your fingers
crossed kid.
sometimes our jokes
don’t land
and
oh boy
if they don’t
just don’t
show aggression or groan
just
keep a straight face
even when you smell
what
damp
air blows:
an unimagined voice
reminding you
you can’t stop water
from misused sinks