INSECT OR MARTIAN

 INSECT OR MARTIAN

I am a mostly bald man

Should probably shave off what's left

But really can't be bothered.

For when it comes to hair,

I will take what I can get.

I have two noticeable bumps,

One on each side of my gargantuan head

From deep brain stimulation surgery in 2007.

A constant reminder of my Parkinson's

As if I really needed reminding.

Those bumps can really be quite blinding, 

To the casual observer.

I personally think I resemble an insect

Perhaps a mosquito or house fly

Sitting around with antennae showing.

Leaving the ignorant and the unknowing 

To gently ask me why.

I never much fancied insects,

But now that I've become one 

I may just have to change my tune

Where I once thought insects were merely pests,

Why, now I think they're just the best.

Sometimes I think I'm my boyfriend's favorite Martian

Like the great Ray Walston who was later Judge Bone.

But I think I digress and I must progress,

Like a Martian I have antennae 

To communicate with my chest battery

To send those electric impulses to my brain

To ease the rigidity of my disease.

Sending off those signals

Like a mouse scurrying after cheese.

I never gave much thought to Martians

But now that I've become one, well,

I think Martians are really swell.

And by the way, I am living proof

That not all Martians have to be green,

A green Martian I have never seen.

I guess Ray Walston already proved that

So by now it's probably just old hat

But Walston was a tv character and I am real.

Real and sturdy as the Man of Steel

At least I was the last time I pinched myself.

Wait! Hold that magic wand!

Perhaps I am a leprechaun!

-Bruce Potts

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