Patrick Roche - "21" (CUPSI 2014)

This is what poetry truly is...I am moved...

Sobering Morning Thoughts

Where I am today.

I was watching my beautiful daughter as she slept this morning, and this sober thought hit me: If life works out correctly, and things go according to plan, one day my daughter will bury me, and be sad, and broken, and slightly more alone. And depending upon when this event happens, she will recover...or never fully recover from that grief.

This is my truth for today.

And sometimes there are these moments...

The other day, my daughter, Saskia, was being an adorable rascal. In playing around with her, I said, "Turn over your little butt. I'm going to spank it." She looked at me, and said, "Oh, please, Dad, I know you. That's the last thing you would ever do."

I almost cried. I had a good (internal) parent moment; for I knew, growing up, getting my butt whipped would be the first thing that my father would do.

Shake the Dust

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uVTak1ctkg&feature=share&list=FLsVR31Xo1DDhnwkV6Qw8BqQ&index=1

Not the Same

We are NOT all the same. I never quite understand people who tell me that they don't see race or culture. Why not? That's not a negative thing, unless we react negatively towards it. There are differences. Take for example, the other day I was performing in an urban school in NYC, and a girl approached me after my show with tears running down her face. She said, "Thank you. You made me feel better. All my life, I've been made fun of because of my weight. I always hated myself because I could never be like the skinny girls in my school who wear a size 9."

It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

If there were no children only adults...

In my elementary show, (a show I perform with the lovely, Tania Alexandra), I have a section where I propose a question to the 3-6 grade students: "What would the world look like if there were no children, only adults?" I am stuck. Beyond giving nonsense answers such as: "There would be no video games," "People wouldn't pick their noses and fling it onto others," "It would be boring because adults would watch Oprah Winfrey all day long," I find myself stuck in truthfully answering the question what pragmatic use are children, specifically the little ones.

I know on the surface, this may sound awful, but my question comes from a place of curiosity, not disdain. I find that most people are taught what to think, what to eat, what to believe, and (sadly) what to say and feel. I try to be true to myself, but it doesn't always work out.

I'll give you a ready example. This morning, while on an elevator with another man, I struck up a quick conversation with him, asking him how his day was going thus far. He replied, "Good! I just got married last night." I immediately blurted out, "Congratulations!" I had the biggest (and most inauthentic) grin spreading across my face. I felt nothing of a congratulatory nature, but I said what I said because I've been raised to do the "supposed to do" thing, as opposed to saying what I "need" to say.

I struggle with this. So I ask your help, my friends, answer the question from your perspective, "If there were no children, only adults, what would the world look like?"

From the other side

Many of us were raised to feel pity for those who are in less favorable circumstances, whether that be physically, mentally, economically, or emotionally. We were raised to count our blessings. Have we ever thought about it from the other perspective? The "less fortunate" side?

Yesterday, I performed for a group, mostly made up of adults who were physical education, health, and dance instructors. After my presentation, a man, Ernie Jones, approached me, and handed me a paper. He shook my hand, and said, "Please read this. It was inspired by your character who has Cerebral Palsy." This is the gift he gave me:

"I cried because I had no shoes
Then I saw one who had no feet
There but by the grace of God go I

BUT FROM THE OTHER SIDE

I cried because I had no feet
Then I saw one who had no class
and I said to myself...
'And I thought having no feet was bad.'"

Thank you, Ernie Jones, wherever you are, wherever you may go for reminding all of us about perspective.