Thomas R. Peters, Jr.

My MOM
An aborted epic pome

My Mom
Will never answer
Her cell phone
After 1 ring
again

My Mom
Will never rake
Her own leaves
again
At 89 years old

My mom
Will never
Shovel her own
Snow
again

My Mom
Will never wonder
Whether or not to have
2 frozen spaghetti
Dinners
again

My Mom
Will never
Renew her
Drivers license
Again

My mom
Will never
Open a bottle
Of wine
Have 1 glass
And put it back
In the fridge
again

My Mom
Will never again
Boil the water
For her Kroger brand
Instant coffee
She will drink right
Before bed
Again

My Mom
Will never again
Ask me for a password
To prove I am me
On the phone
Again

My mom
Will never
Say she only
Wants to live
5 more years
Again

My Mom
Will never
Begrudgingly
Pet a dog
That she
Secretly loves
Again

Or fall in love
With my sisters
Cat she is begrudgingly
Watching
Again

My mom
Will never again
Answer all the questions
On jeopardy correctly
Again

My Mom
Will never laugh
At my jokes
Again

My mom
Will never
Do anything
On this earth
Ever
again

My Mom
Will never
Again.

My Mom
Will never

My mom’s
Will

My Mom

My Ma

My

Y ?

I
Am a victim
Of advertising

(Pome)

Part 1.

I wanted
Red ball Jets
Tennis shoes
That would help
Me jump Over
a six foot fence

I wanted the
Six foot
Submarine
In the back of
Comic Books
For $6.99
Inc shipping
To be a fully
functioning
Submarine

I wanted X-Ray
Spex that just
Let me see through
Some peoples
Clothes

I wanted a
Slinky that
Perfectly and
Cinematically
And balletically
And slowly
Descended
A stair case
One step
At a time

I wanted
A wrist rocket
Slingshot that
Transformed me
To the perfect
Ninja invisible
Marksman

I wanted the girl
In silver metallic
Hot pants
And silver Go-Go boots
In the Detroit Tigers
Program

I wanted Ursula
Andress in the
Waterfall in
The white
Holiday anniversary
Edition of Pl***oy
And the white
Holiday anniversary
Issue of Pl***oy
The photo
Was in …

I wanted
A Tiger
In my tank

And my
Special K
& Frosted Flakes
To be
Grrrrreeat!

I wanted
The Rat Trap
Game to be
As cool
As the one
In the Tv
Commercial

I wanted
The wooden
Tackle box
My sister
Said was waiting
For me on
Christmas Morning
To be the magical
Tackle box it was
In my imagination

I wanted the
Metal flake transparent
Lime green
Yo-Yo 🪀
I wanted
From Hasbro
To turn me
Instantly into
An unbelievable
Yo-Yo champion
The envy of all other
Yo-Yo champs

I wanted the
Bowling set
I got for my
First Christmas
I cd remember
To be replete
With sounds
Like the thunder-
Storms I was told
We’re Rip Van Winkle
And Wee Willie winkie
Bowling in the heavens

I Wanted our
Jungle Gym
To come with
A real jungle
And to be more
Like Tarzan’s
Treehouse

I wanted the
Prize in the bottom of the Cracker Jack box
To be a real
Surprise

I wanted what ever
Surprise that came
At the bottom of the
Cereal box to be
More valuable Than
The cost of 10 boxes
Of cereal, burying
My arm elbow deep
Into the box of cereal
And coming out with
The prize and my arm
Covered in sugar dust

I wanted my Alice Cooper
45 RPM record
To come with
Alice Cooper
Complete with
Eye make up and
Pythons


I wanted
My rat-a-tat
Machine fun
With sparks
To make as
Much noise as
A real machine gun
And the sparks
To be like flames
Shooting out the barrel
….
I wanted
The 99 cent
Baby alligator
From SS Kresege
And the back of
Magazines
To grow to a
6 foot alligator
In the baby blue
Plastic kiddie pool
I imagined I would
Need for it in the
Basement before
Being forced by my
Parents to release
It in the sewers
Where it would meet
Other dime store
Alligators before
Populating them

And the tiny
Painted turtles
They sold at the
Drug store to grow
Up to be gigantic
Snapping turtles
And my new
Best friend.