Olster jokes were funnier when we were young.
Today we might say, Bite your tongue
before you tell another one. We may laugh
at a tale of how our memory seems to fail
when we need it most. Still we can boast
of our collection of stories to tell—quite well
in fact. To be exact we are an untapped
source of clever answers. But no one asks
the questions. Our wise pronouncements now
are dated. They come from another time.
Our similes were born on the farm:
stubborn as a mule, crazy like a fox,
mad as an old wet hen. We remember when
bad meant bad and good was good. You
should have known us then, young friend.
Not to offend, we don the Mask of Comedy.
And so, I’ll keep on bumbling and stumbling
toward the end with humor and faith intact
if I am lucky. When they lay me out
with a painted smile and all the while
everyone is having fun at my expence
telling what they think is a good one on me,
I wish I could pop up and say
That’s not how it was at all.

--Elaine Parker Akin 2019

This photo is an original collage I
completed in 1998,
modeled after a picture of my late mother.
For this posting I have
modified the photo of the original
using "paint" daubs.
Carol