Hal Sirowitz Said

We got a late start on November here at Poets Online because of Hurricane Sandy and a follow up nor'easter that played games with our power, so we have a new brief prompt for this abbreviated month.

Hal Sirowitz is one of the funniest poets I have ever heard read. There is something about his deadpan, Steven Wright delivery that makes his monologue poems sound like stand up routines.

Sons

We’re Jewish, Father said.
So we don’t believe in Christ.
If God wanted us to worship Jesus
he would have arranged for us to be born
into an Italian family. I have nothing
against Him. He was probably a very nice man.
You have to give Him credit for trying.
A lot of people still believe He’s the Son of God.
I don’t know what He had against His real father.
But if you ever did that to me,
said you were someone else’s son, I’d be insulted.

Many people know him best for his three "said" books - Mother Said, My Therapist Said and Father Said . In poems like "Red, Red Bra" and others, he gives us monologues that are full of irony, humor and Sirowitz.

A simple prompt: a poem that is all monologue. Mother said, father said, therapist, teacher, lover, wife, husband - it's your call.

Submission deadline: Sunday, December 2, 2012



                Hal Sirowitz - "Chopped Off Arm"