Jokes Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

There are jokes,
I love to hear told by folks...
About others who have sat on summits,
To return to old neighbors.
Unchanged to remain slow and predictable.
And to listen to the laughter,
Directed to the ones they claim to know...
To perceive them as failures coming back,
From experiencing the embarrassment...
With attempts to share 'that' as success.

And these clowns sitting around,
Laugh and laugh to believe their own rumors...
Until attempts to make them see opportunities,
Free to share with them to receive...
Leave the ones expecting the disrespect.
With no feelings left to regret,
A doing of their best and what they could...
In old neighborhoods where jokers tell jokes.
To protect and defend,
The keeping of their ignorance with this to pretend...
Others find clowns sitting around to enjoy,
The same jokes told to hear from folks getting too old...
Not to see the doing of it has created their predicaments.