Best Stare Down Poems
Winter morning walk
Buster, head on bed, glaring
Oh good, you are up
It was a bit disturbing to look up from what I was doing and seeing my father standing right in front of me.
We simply stared into each other’s eyes without saying a word.
Somehow, I felt so old.
Somehow, he looked so young.
I am not sure what it was that I read in his eyes and his expression.
Was he being judgmental? Was he questioning the choices I had made with my life?
Or, was that the look of him being proud of the man I had become?
Was he trying to silently pass along his experiences and wisdom to me telepathically?
Or, was he simply content to be standing here next to one of his offspring?
The silence was growing awkward and I felt like I should say something … anything.
Then, I realized, just standing here next to my father at this point in time simply said it all. There was nothing else to add.
Staring at him, watching him stare at me, I couldn’t help keep a smile from appearing on my face. He responded back with that ****-eating grin that was uniquely my father.
I heard my wife calling from the bottom of the stairs, “Joe, if you don’t hurry we are going to be late.”
That is when I finished tying my tie and turned away from the bathroom mirror.
I could almost hear him say, “Goodbye, Pal”, as I slipped on his ring that my mother gave to me at his funeral.
As I walked down the stairs, Cindy looked up at me and laughed, “My God,” she said, “you look more and more like your father every day.”
I simply replied, “I know”, as I subtly wiped away the tear before it had a chance to escape my eye.
I miss you, Pal.
• Such a charming fellow
• With eyes a vibrant yellow
• He'll stare you down
• Often with a frown
• Befriend him and you'll see he's quite mellow
A Stare Down
My entire day was saved (maybe more)
By a smiling crow with a steel grip
On a pine branch in a snow storm.
I sat very comfortably at the glass door,
Loving the teasing snowflakes,
And sipping steaming coffee.
There he was (or she was)
A pointed silhouette
In green and white winter salad,
Flapping and bobbing--
A challenge to the winter storm.
I tapped the glass and he smiled to a point
And twisted to stare at me.
Two can play this game, I thought.
So, we played and played till the glass fogged.
I wiped some fog away.
He shrugged and smiled and fluttered away--
A shrinking dot in the marshmallow morning.
as we stroll alone
on the home
i looked around
there was this frown
looking like a clown
it was a
STARE DOWN