Wednesday, June 14, 2017

The Man in the Jinnah Cap

I wrote this for my maternal grandfather's latest birthday and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. It's full of inside jokes so bear with me and my kooky family. Here's to you, Nana!


 “Halloo?” says Mr. KMY, very loudly, as he answers the phone   
his tone mellow and hearty and his passion for life salient and profound. 

When he arrives at Jinnah International Airport (or at times, sneakily, Cantt Station)
Lurch and Smirking Walnut are ready for his welcome.
A while later he enters D-220 with goodies galore,
including coffee cake, khatais, and Sakheel’s honey.

His aura gives off a rather pleasant vibe,
one that draws you to his historically vibrant stories.
He is of course the average human at times:
When road rage kicks in and the Punjabi in him comes flying out,
When a journalist misses a comma or calls Quaid-e-Azam “Jinnah”
When a “simple affair” AKA home cooked meal tastes “rotten.”

With his silver hair and trademark white shalwar kameez and Jinnah cap
He heads to the sofa and props up his giant feet.
Remote in hand and wife by side,
he settles down to call some of his good ol’ cronies.

Whoever he meets, he impresses with his spirited self
whoever meets him wants to adopt him.
His family calls him their secret treasure.

Today we honor Mr. KMY AKA Nana, Abu, Uncle Yusuf.
To remind him of his prowess and how special he is to us
Today we give our much belated yet deserved thanks
to the man who has always had our backs through thick and thin
and who has spoiled us with love and laughter .

By this point he has surely found an error in this poem
So I will leave him to print this dedication
and thoroughly enjoy adding/deleting commas and such.

So here you go, Mr. KMY...your very own poem.
Happy, happy birthday and may you have many more!

No comments:

Post a Comment