[x]

deviantART

 




Be Hardy Boy

                                                                     “They were healthy, normal,
                                                             American boys of high school age.
                                                                                  - Franklin W. Dixon


Joe, lookie Joe,
stop gawking at Callie
and dogging around after Frank
just for a moment Joe

‘cuz what I’m saying is
why not just tell your mom and dad
that everyone knows Iola Morton is not
taking swim lessons at the YWCA
like she’s told her parents, that she’s
taking the #38 downtown to do
other stuff on those nights and
that you love this version of her
like you’ve only ever loved two others –
that nun in the sixth grade whose ruler was always
so quick to strike, and the drifter you met
far far west of Bayport that one summer your folks
sent you off to camp? If you could do that,
just tell ‘em right out like that,
I bet you could also tell ‘em
that good ol’ Chet can’t make it to lunch anymore
without an arm full of junk and that he
needs to get help soon or he’ll die

and if all that goes well,
real well, and they’re still listening
without that glassy-eyed look of
too much wine and Thanksgiving pie
you might even mention, just real quick,
how much it bugs you, how much
it’s always sort of bugged you, that
your family has no black friends,
no asian friends, and no latino friends
that ever come around for dinner
or a little pleasant conversation

‘cuz that’s my point Joe –
my whole point is why not just tell your folks
that much and then you could stop there,
stop and you wouldn’t have to say anything more
except to tell ‘em that you still pray to God each night, still
believe in the triumph of a detective’s reason over chaos, still
think mom’s pies and roast are the best in six counties –
you could say no more except to tell ‘em
that you don’t want to touch up children or
anything and that you’re not thinking of going
to the Bayport Clarion with this kind of stuff –

you could stop right there. And if you did,
I’ll bet you’d all still be as close as
you ever were, and who cares
if other people won’t think it best
to buy your books anymore after that.
©2008-2009 *b1gfan
Details
Submitted: May 21, 2008
File Size: 3.7 KB
Image Size: 106 KB
Resolution: 416×599
Comments: 27
Favourites & Collections: 7 [who?]

Views
Total: 182
Today: 0

Downloads
Total: 2
Today: 0

Thumb

Author's Comments

Just tell the truth is what I'm saying. Actually, for many different reasons, this piece makes me think of Henry Miller and his famous line, "I struggled in the beginning. I said I was going to write the truth, so help me God. And I thought I was. I found I couldn't. Nobody can write the absolute truth."

So, Im'ma go with this version of the poem and the truth for now. Jus 'cuz.

Here's a little back story material from Wikipedia that helps to explain how I got started in the first place with all this carrying on about The Hardy Boys. Of course, there was no Wikipedia 20 years ago when I first wrote the poem, and I was just 21 then, so I didn't know all this stuff in the way the entry explains it. Still, big parts of their experience, their life really, always seemed a bit too ... you know: too unlike life. I liked the stories and all. It just that they were so 50's in who they included into the Hardy world and how they lived.

In it's entry on The Hardy Boys, Wikipedia explains that, "Substantial revisions to the first 38 titles began in 1959. Over the course of 15 years the series was revised to modernize outdated vernacular, reduce story length, age the characters and remove the ethnic and racial stereotypes prevalent in many of the early books (although the series was unusually inclusive for the era in having two non-WASP Hardy sidekicks who were portrayed as normal, fully assimilated teenagers—Tony Prito and Phil Cohen)."

The Hardy Boys, Wikipedia

The preview image is courtesy of :iconprintmonkey: , my kid brother (hehehehe) and my buddy!

Dave Prisk
[x]

Devious Comments

love 0 0 joy 0 0 wow 1 1 mad 0 0 sad 0 0 fear 0 0 neutral 0 0

Comments


Good to see this all officially deviated.
I'm not sure I'm all set with it yet, but then again...I don't know that I'm not. So, what the heck. =)
Thanks for reading though. That's very kind of you.
This is a very interesting narrative. I'm liking the old stuff. :)
I'm reading To Kill a Mockingbird right now in English, so my first thought was of course, Jem and Scout...and Boo.

--
I\\\'m like a noisy puppy :(

I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior. If you do too and aren\\\'t scared to admit it, then copy and paste this in your signature.

Who breaks the thread, the one who pulls, the one who holds on? -James Richardson
Ah cool...I see the link there...the truth and the parents and the awful secrets that the characters need not name to know so well.
:nod:

--
I\\\'m like a noisy puppy :(

I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior. If you do too and aren\\\'t scared to admit it, then copy and paste this in your signature.

Who breaks the thread, the one who pulls, the one who holds on? -James Richardson
Well, reading... it's what I do. =)
this is great

xo!

sidenote: sexus is one of my girlfriend's favorite books. I've yet to read any miller, myself. she's also big on anais nin (that's how she got into miller).
like miller, I've little experience with anais.

--
I am a poetry admin for *DailyLitDeviations.

interested in collaborating?
writer, photographer, painter, whatever(er) -
I'll mix with words with anything you've got.
:bulletred: currently on collab hiatus
Me too really. I read Sexus and The Air Conditioned Nightmare in Paris one Christmas break back when I was in college - and I'm sorry to say I can't recall a thing about either really. But, it was Paris after all...I was distracted. I've read The Delta of Venus by Nin which I'm more sorry to say I remember well. Makes me look like quite the pig I imagine.

I am very appreciative of your kindness and of the :+fav: ... I offer my humble thanks Shane.
I really love the colloquial, easy feel about this entire piece... it's almost like the casualness with which it is written (or spoken) underscores the intensity of the theme within. A really great piece. And I remember the Hardy Boys... so it makes a lot of sense to me. I'm glad you put this up.

--
The best way to teach children the value of money is to borrow it from them.

Site Map