Trained from early times to observe
With microscopic acuity
To detect patterns in streams of data
A skill poorly developed in the end

Never saw distinctly the many relatives
The aunts who smoked
The uncles who drank beer
The one I liked best who drank something stronger

Who bid me ride in fishing vessel
Beyond sight of land
And the other one the fat one
Who carried me through the waves past my height

Another who wore boots with straps and buckles
Who raised hogs and drove a truck
Whose wild sons almost grown
Gigged frogs by moonlight

I neither feared nor particularly loved them
Diverting and pleasant
Like the swoop of power lines
While I reclined in the back seat

I wasn’t strong in relationships as a child
Like good or bad weather
By far mostly good
Glossy magnolia leaves upturned in the wind

I saw them and never mentioned them
I played with my brother
And didn’t especially notice
That I enjoyed myself

The same when I played alone
Or with whichever was the yard dog at the time
The simple construction set
Mad magazine and Fahrenheit 451

Listening was less highly prized than observation
Adult conversations the evening news
And oh Gilbert and Sullivan Ray Charles and Johnny Cash
Dylan and the Beatles and the Stones