Poetry by Jason Melvin

                 ​ryangs CC



​I didn’t write this

my brother may have
my dad     he could’ve of
maybe Uncle Sonny did
I know too many people 
who could’ve written this
               but it wasn’t me
at least       as of yet

Fuck all you old people
Yes      that’s what we said
FUCK   all    you    old    people
and you’re bitching       bitching
about how this hurts    and that hurts
How you just aren’t what you used to be
How young people are assholes
they’ve always been assholes
you were an asshole
About how you’re going to die soon
you only maybe have a few years left
You’re probably right             but
don’t forget about all those years
             that you did have
It’s not about the ones you have left
It’s about the ones you’ve lived
We would’ve been grateful for a few more





I write my hurt

My brother died
just now.  Literally, maybe an hour ago
my God          what selfish beings we are
                                                             first thought
               Why?
do his small children
have to relive our childhood?
a father dying too young
leaving before they’ve grown
                                                              second thought
               Why?
does my poor mother bury
those who die too young?
a 38-year-old husband 
a 49-year-old son
                                                             third thought
I will mine this
          Poetry gold
because that’s what I do
I write my hurt
          I deal in loss
so many words about
my dead father
many more upcoming
for my dead brother
my God       what selfish …


​

Jason Melvin received a gimmicky T-shirt from his teenage daughter on Christmas with a picture of one large fist fist-bumping a much smaller fist. The caption read, “Behind every smart-ass daughter is a truly asshole Dad”.  It fit. His work has recently appeared in The Beatnik Cowboy, Olney, Rat’s Ass Review, The Spring City, Spillover, The Electric Rail, Front Porch Review and Shambles, among others.

---