"The Complete History of the Boy" [by David Lehman]

"The Complete History of the Boy" is the poetry feature of the month on the The Common  
out of Amherst, Mass.,
ably edited by the poet John Hennessy

Here is part one of the poem:

 

1.
The baby giggled in his crib.
His father walked in. “Why are you laughing?”
“Because,” the baby said, “we all have our joy.”
It was his first sentence.

When the baby had his own bed,
he said children are luckier than grownups
because they get to sleep in their own bed
while grownups have to share.

At four he was asked what he wanted
to be when he grew up. “Santa Claus,” he said.

That was Thanksgiving. By January he thought better of it.
“I never want to be a grown-up because
that would be the end of me.”

It was the age of the aphorism:
“Candles are statues that burn for the ceremony.”
“Saliva is the maid of your mouth.” (It cleanses it.

Science explained everything,
the workings of windshield wipers, for example:
“The darkness causes the rain 
and comes from the rain, which goes up
to the sky and falls down again
on the windshield and the windows,
and you have to wipe the darkness off.”

For the rest of the poem, click here. 
The photo of the author and Bruno (above) is from 1983.
https://www.thecommononline.org/november-2020-poetry-feature-david-lehman/

Comments

[Terence Winch]

A brilliant & mysterious poem.

[Stefanie Green]

I remember many of those lines! And Bruno, of course, in the backyard in Ludlowville. It was a beautiful meadow. I would take Joe on walks in the woods, and around the old schoolhouse, where wild roses grew. xoxo s

[Alice Fulton]

I love the quality of imagination here. "You have to wipe the darkness off." Yes.

[Angela Ball]

Wow! I can't imagine a better poem to end the year with. A poem of beginnings, it floats in the ether that supports the best poems, a sacred and permanent form of the substance found inside the Magic 8 Ball, that buoys the answer, "Ask Again Later" out of blackness.

[David Lehman]

Thank you for your comments, Terence, Steffi, Alice, and Angela!