Neil Ellman’s most recent poem to appear here was Cover-Ups, published as part of Contributor Series 10: Silken Rags in December 2011.
An Excerpt from the Diary of a Man Growing Old: Elegy for Clarabel
By Neil Ellman
I guess I’m getting old.
I can even remember when HST was President
(remember him?)
and the cost of a gallon of gas
could get you change from a quarter
(remember that?)
and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon
saying something about mankind
(who remembers what?)
while we were getting high on booze and weed
screaming “USA, USA”
as we did when we beat the Ruskies
at their own game (whatever that was).
But I remember Clarabel best of all
Howdy Doody’s clown
(incidentally, first played by Bob Keeshan
who gained later fame as Captain Kangaroo
(remember him?)
So sing along with me:
“Who’s the funniest clown we know?
Clarabel!
Who’s the clown on Howdy’s show?
Clarabel!
His feet are big, his tummy’s stout,
But we could never do without,
Clara, Clara, Clarabel!”
Pure poetry for a six-year-old:
even now I remember how he honked his horn
as if to speak to Buffalo Bob
and the way he squirted seltzer
on the Flub a Dub
(remember him or it or whatever it was?)
Oh, Clarabel, wherever you are
in a Barnum and Bailey heaven
or a kinescope
(remember them?)
I will always remember you.
yes, great memories!