Knight Of The Mournful Countenance Poem by Michael Pruchnicki

I read cervantes' novel don quixote
in visitation grammar school

the good nuns knew I was not
the average neighborhood thug

so they left me to read dumas
and jack london or whomever

and to illustrate the hijinks
of eighth grade hooligans

in pencil and ink comic book style
the nuns may have guessed

my ulterior motive in ridiculing
the thugs who menaced me

every day after school
with a sound thrashing

if my cartoons didn't meet
their approval

so I drew and sketched
in broad strokes our comedy!