Where did my dark sense of humor come from?
It started when I found the punchline was only
funny to me. So, I polished my jokes
until they shone like buffed Aluminum,
waiting for someone to laugh back
with the same desperate recognition.
You see, during preschool years
on Hinman Avenue, once I stepped off
my front porch, Dad’s abuse of me
didn’t exist, but not because I was hiding it.
I didn’t think I was unique. I thought
misery was the default setting for every child
on the block. I assumed we were all members
of a club where the first rule was not to mention
abuse experienced at home. I thought I was
just keeping up with the neighborhood aesthetic
of everything is fine, never realizing I was
the only one in the circle who was actually on fire.
R. Nikolas Macioci earned a PhD from The Ohio State University. Nik is the author of twenty-three books. He was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, nominated five times for a Pushcart Prize, and twice for a Best of the Net award. His poems are published in numerous magazines.
