<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1">“Chin Up, Stiff Upper Lip,”</span></div><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"> </span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1">the father would intone, winking his eyes,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> with the accent he pilfered from the movies of his youth,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> with the demeanor of the rabbi he never became,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> with the style of the Borscht-Belt comedian he couldn’t embody.</span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"> </span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1">“That’s Dad,” the sons would agree, rolling their eyes,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> with the sigh of the unwelcome,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> with the sarcasm of the unacknowledged,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> with the suppressed rage of the uninitiated.</span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"> </span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1">Where does this poem need to go?</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1">Toward the weeping mother who would rub her eyes</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> with undisguised longing for her carefree youth,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> with the comfortable self-pity of her domestic prison,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> with the dangerous hunger of an unsatisfied woman?</span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"> </span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1">Or toward the happy gods who would avert their eyes</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> as they toyed with each other,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> as they cast flame and flood down upon mortals,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> as they consumed their own children?</span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"> </span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1">What about the sons who pluck out their eyes</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> as they accept less and less,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> as they tolerate more and more,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> as they suck in their frozen chests?</span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"> </span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1">Or the city that glazes its eyes in false innocence,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> guarding its walls of imagined security,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> closing its gates to the impure,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> erecting its towers on unstable soil?</span></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;"><span class="s1"> </span></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1">Or should we welcome the sons who pry open their eyes</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> as they demand their inheritance,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> as they offer us their essence,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"> as they envision a world that doesn’t need this poem?</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;" class=""><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Barry Spector</span></div><div class=""><span class="s1"><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span class="s1"><br class=""></span></div><div class="">
<div class=""><div style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">“Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.”</div><div style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Wendell Berry</div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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