Been cutting with this knife
all my livelong life.
That now my loving wife, by day a nurse,
bored to insanity by this verse,
has pigstuck into my heart's strife.
Oh! the! humanity!, this natal perishing
of fatal cherishing.
______________________________­____

Since this poem is so dull not even Richard has bothered to comment on its dullness, I scribed this in honor of "Their Old Knives." Or whatever its title was. May it rest in peace.

Hi Cutter, I read the poem several times and listened to the poet read his poem. I enjoyed both the poem and the reading. The poet hails from Philadelphia; I know people from Philadelphia and I have visited Philadelphia once.

My grandfather’s knife was too sharp for the shed

So it’s lain fifty years in a drawer

It is shorter by naught than a Jim Bowie blade

It is thinner so a Bowie weighs more

It was forged at a time

Craftsmanship was so sublime

And this knife’s kept its edge through the years

So relax

Please

This knife is in its sheath

Oiled with old man’s tears

His silv'ry quippers back from lay-a-way

For his tongue be nimble but his head is fey

He won’t miss the boat

He will ride the swell

While the crop circles carry on in corn

Oh, those silv'ry quippers

Oh, those silv'ry quippers

Silv'ry quippers he’s a’goin’ to write

Because they give him hope

Oh, those silv'ry quippers

Oh, those silv'ry quippers

Silv'ry quippers he’s a’goin’ to write…

Yet it’s a slipp’ry slope

The poem is too sharp to be dull.

I had trouble posting this morning so I couldn't make my point.

A good atmospheric poem about family reminisences

Well, you're right: Philadelphia, it is. In my post I alluded in p.s. to Manhattan as the poem's sights and sounds felt like Manhattan in August to me, but I had meant to google Di Piero before writing and then forgot ... .Now that you've set me straight (although indeed the descriptors could as easily apply to NYC, i believe - and I thought "Havana tropicals" referred to Cuban immigrants, but Philly probably has its share too)..

There's even - it turns out - a noted 9th Street Italian market in Philly -- <link>

which is pretty clearly (in whatever form it took in his youth) the specific location the poet is drawing from here ... Reminds me that Philly is one of the few large cities in this country I've never explored, only ridden through on Amtrak from NYC to DC ...