Not Worth Mentioning

My paintings do not nor shall they ever hang

in the Louvre. (I’ve never even considered

slicing off a portion of my ear.) I did not take

part in the construction of that bridge which

spans the Mississippi, though I have crossed

it many times before. I did not seed that Kansas

wheat field which helped to feed the hungry of

the world. I have never run a four minute mile.

My poetry has not appeared on the pages of

the Atlantic or New Yorker Magazines. It’s fair

to say that most of my poetic metaphors and

alliterations will never be seen. I never sang

at the Met either. In fact, my voice is so off-beat

and irregular that never in a million years could

I ever carry a tune. Ah, the things we common

folk do which never in a lifetime pass muster,

are never even considered worthy of scrutiny or

review. I have one of those faces you may have

passed a thousand times yet never could identify.

I have been known to get lost in a crowd of two.

So, today this is what I shall do, just another

off-the-record thing I propose for all its insig-

nificance, for all the little things in passing, for

everything less than great and grand not worth

mentioning, all the unnoticed we may have done

or failed to do. Have you ever seen the Eiffel

Tower all lit up at night? Sources say it’s quite a

sight. And even if you have, so what? You’re not

the only one.

Chris Hanch 6-25-18