the harpies in the stands

they sit in the stands
or stand
in the stands
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 or
shove,
because they
can -- or at least think they can.
(and no one tells them
they can't.)
I am not
a
(pick one – or circle all)
“backstage parent,”
“hockey parent,”
“little league
parent.” no,
not
me. 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, he
said and with a straight
face.
then he looked in
the
mirror. what looked back
wasn’t troubling
to
him.
but it should have
been.