THE ANCIENT VOYAGEURS
Chuck fixes my typewriters
but more importantly
called me badass
despite the fact I have
a sore back, too much belly
and brittle knees.
Chuck called me badass
upon learning my brother and I
canoed a long river
though we were already old,
my brother more ancient and so
a bigger badass than I.
And so I'm grateful to Chuck
and think of him fondly,
for nothing is more flattering
to an aging American male
than to be mistaken for badass
years after he last kicked ass.
I met Chuck Thiele when I decided to get a typewriter or two and was googling for someone local to get them up and running. Chuck works out of South Lyon, Michigan and does fantastic work. My favorite typewriter is a blue IBM Selectric II. I know I should be in love with my older manual typewriters, but the Selectric is a workhorse that never lets me down. My mother also used a Selectric, so there’s that, too. When I met Chuck I told him that my brother and I had canoed the length of Michigan’s Grand River and gave him a link to our blog, lengthofthegrand.com. Chuck called me badass after looking at the blog and – two years later – this poem was born.
The poem being recited here was also published on this blog. It’s one of my favorites . . . Maurice was a man amongst boys.
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A New Poem Every So Often
(No regular schedule right now; life gets in the way.)
Joseph Neely, all rights reserved
The Occasional Poem 