Poetry: When I Was A Kid By John Yamrus

when i was a kid

 

and 

couldn’t 

read yet, i used to 

ask my sister to read things to me 

 

and 

she was kind 

and patient and 

read everything that i asked her to read:

 

cereal boxes, 

labels on cans, 

street signs, billboards, 

whatever there was to read 

she used to read it, and finally 

 

her 

patience 

wore thin and 

i don’t know how old 

i was at the time, but i’ll soon be 75,

 

and 

i remember it 

like it was yesterday...

 

we 

were watching 

The Lone Ranger on tv,

 

and 

the bad guys 

had The Ranger tied up 

and they lit a stick of dynamite 

 

and 

set it on top 

of a box that had 

letters on the side and 

while i kinda knew what 

the box was, and what it said,

 

i still 

had to ask her 

to read it to me anyway,

 

and she 

got mad as hell 

and said it was dynamite 

 

and 

she was sick of 

reading everything for me 

 

and 

was never 

gonna do it again.

 

ever.

 

and she

walked out 

of the room and 

i yelled back at her:

i don’t care what you think, 

and as soon as i learn how to read 

i’m gonna read everything everywhere that ever was 

 

and you’re not gonna stop me! 

 

and 

that was 

nearly 70 years ago 

and my sister lives in Albuquerque now,

 

and she 

kept her word, 

and dammit, so did i.

 

 

 

 

 

John Yamrus’s career spans more than 50 years as a working writer. He has published 35 books (29 volumes of poetry, 2 novels, 3 volumes of non-fiction and a children’s book). He has also had nearly 3,000 poems published in magazines and anthologies around the world. A book of his selected poems was just released in Albania, translated into that language by Fadil Bajraj, who is best known for his translations of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Bukowski, Ginsberg, Pound and others. A number of Yamrus’s books and poems are taught in college and university courses. His most recent book is Selected Poems: The Directors (Concrete Mist Press)