THE PARENTS.

A BOY AND HIS PARENTS IN 1950S NYC

His mother was in the
Other room yakking
It with some guy from

Across the block and boy
She could yak and could
Spin words like they were

Coins and he listened in
And heard the guy say things
That made him wonder if

The guy and his mother were
Having an affair, it wouldn’t
Be the first time his mother

Had a guy in and made the
Bedroom noises if the guy
Had stayed over when his

Father was on night shift,
But this guy from across
The block was a friend of

His father’s and they often
Went drinking together and
Some days played cards in

The kitchen and smoked and
Drank and listened to the Doo
Wop bands on the radio, so

Why would he be having an
Affair with his best friends
Wife and why would he betray

A friend like that?  Not that
His mother wasn’t a good
Looking dame, she was well

Stocked and had the best a*s
In the business or so his father
Said to his mother when they

Thought he wasn’t listening,
But to do that to his father kind
Of made him think there was

Something wrong with these
People and sitting in his room
Listening to them talk he decided

He wouldn’t tell his mother about
The magazines he’d found in his
Father’s cupboard tucked under

Old pairs of shoes, but keep the
Secret and have a read and see
The dames in their nudity and

Funny positions and imagine
The guy across the block and
His mother in the positions

Shown and guessed he knew
Why there were all those sighs
And late nights moans and groans.