the harpies in the stands

they sit in the stands
or stand
by the seats
and harp
and
cackle
and scheme about things
they cannot
control because
control is so important
to them and why wouldn’t
it be
since
they’ve
been able, for most of
their adulthood,
to
buy whatever they want
or bully
whomever
they desire or push
when it comes
time
to
shove.
He said: I am not
a
(pick one – or get it over with and circle all)
“backstage parent,”
“hockey parent,”
“little league
parent.” but comes
the rub: if you have to
deny
it,
well, you get the rest,
don’t you?
he said that
most
recently
when he called the
man in charge
of
teaching his son
how not
to become
one
of
them
a “shithead.’
I’m not one of
them
he
said and with a straight
face and then looked in
the
mirror and what looked back
wasn’t horrifying, though
it should have
been.
and because it wasn’t:
case
closed.