by Alan Walowitz
I’m not the handiest man
though sometimes feel the need to prove I am—
at least among those still extant in my demographic
who might be foolish enough to wield a screwdriver
a couple of feet in the air
and intend to get close enough to what needs tightening.
Though not mistaken for the Wallendas
who repair the skylight when it won’t close right.
Or that D.B. Cooper guy I hire to change the bulbs
in the fixture that hangs a hundred feet in the air
from my foolish cathedral ceiling.
You know, it’s been a while since
I climbed to the top rung.
I’m happier watching from the ground
and telling those youngsters
everything they’re doing wrong
and how I would’ve handled it
way back when, a couple of year before.
Though I do remember from being up there,
the thrill of the heights
I know when you fall, you hit with a thud.
Meantime, help me, Joe.
Hold this ladder, will you?
For this young one—
willing, ready to climb up.
though sometimes feel the need to prove I am—
at least among those still extant in my demographic
who might be foolish enough to wield a screwdriver
a couple of feet in the air
and intend to get close enough to what needs tightening.
Though not mistaken for the Wallendas
who repair the skylight when it won’t close right.
Or that D.B. Cooper guy I hire to change the bulbs
in the fixture that hangs a hundred feet in the air
from my foolish cathedral ceiling.
You know, it’s been a while since
I climbed to the top rung.
I’m happier watching from the ground
and telling those youngsters
everything they’re doing wrong
and how I would’ve handled it
way back when, a couple of year before.
Though I do remember from being up there,
the thrill of the heights
I know when you fall, you hit with a thud.
Meantime, help me, Joe.
Hold this ladder, will you?
For this young one—
willing, ready to climb up.
Alan Walowitz is a Contributing Editor at Verse-Virtual, an Online Community Journal of Poetry. His chapbook Exactly Like Love comes from Osedax Press. The full-length The Story of the Milkman and Other Poems is available from Truth Serum Press. Most recently, from Arroyo Seco Press, is the chapbook In the Muddle of the Night written with poet Betsy Mars. Now available for free download is the collection The Poems of the Air from Red Wolf Editions.