January 2025
James J. Mammarella
jamesjdm@gmail.com
jamesjdm@gmail.com
Bio Note: The theme of promises kept or broken made me think of the grandfather I never knew. After divorcing my grandmother, Bernard joined the U.S. Merchant Marine, first sailing in March 1945. The career took him all over the planet, and his alcoholism with him. I did some sailing the last two summers, and pondered my grandfather’s identity. The other poem is a jaunty riff on things missed. I am a member of the Italian American Writers Association. I self-published a chapbook Sonnets for Silvertoes in 2014; and the sonnets "Three for Dominick" in VIA/Voices in Italian Americana in September 2023.
Bernie, we never knew ye
it isn’t that we hardly knew ye,
Bernie — we ne’er knew ye.
sailed away, quite actually,
drank away not sunk
lashed yrself to what mast?
to roving only made ye fast
Tokyo by Panama
Cairo and tropics far,
under crab and goat
your craft did float
lashed yrself to what mast?
to roving only made ye fast
moons spun to years
bottles filled of tears, then tossed
no torpedo cleft your bark, but —
shipmate brawls left their mark.
from time to time
you penned a line
I would read them all and learn
of distance…
lashed yrself to what mast?
to roving only made ye fast
one palimpsest life a man
with hands gruff, might tame
a scrimshaw token
we your spawn
could impute e’er rolling dawn
all tears erase ’mid doubts anon;
at sea your face alit, and calm
perhaps the heart within
round oceans’ road
grew full again.
Excuse me, Miss—What’d I Miss?
Musing on dating and other oddly perplexing pursuits
I’m too city
too suburban
too country
too Southern…
I’m too gritty
too spaced out
too flirty
too sarcastic-hurty…
I often get blurty!
guess what?
I missed the party
missed the boat
missed the bonfire
missed the movie, read the book
I missed you!! Give me please a look
must’ve missed the memo
- my metoo crashed the venmo -
but at least my brat
swiped tiktok like a cat
I missed out, won’t pout
about it - nay: I’ll flout
this long loveless drout
take life up the snout
a wee sprout grown stout
I missed watering
but not wintering
I rarely missed stargazing
but almost missed the ball
like Cinderella or like Gehrig
I mighta missed your call;
missed last spring
live fulltime in fall -
guess I missed my calling
missed it raw
really missed out -
but I wasn’t missed at all…
Who I was meant to be
like a major mystery to me;
missed the exit
missed the curtain call
I misted up,
missing you in the mirror -
missed you getting queerer
missed our maw and paw
missed the dog’s proffered paw
missed like in the maudlin saw
missed all the give and take
icebreaker in the early thaw
missed the party, like I said:
you’ll all miss me - when you’re dead.
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