STORYTELLERS

like most men
I find great pleasure
in telling stories

old stories
new stories
ones that I’ve borrowed
from friends of mine
ones that may have never even happened
and ones that have changed so much
over the course of their
story lives
that the originals
would be unrecognizable

for the purpose of storytelling
among a handful of other reasons
I don’t fear having kids as much
as I did before
and I especially look forward
to having grandkids

because I can see myself very clearly
sitting in a rocking chair
on some back porch
a yard full of kids
playing amongst each other
everyone very content
everyone having a good time

until I stand up and roar, “all right, kiddies!
Get your asses over here!
RIGHT now!
You may have heard this story
a thousand times
but you’re all gonna sit down
and listen to it again, you hear me?!
And by god, you better like it!”