The Difference Between Pepsi and Coke

Can't swim; uses credit cards and pills to combat

   intolerable feelings of inadequacy;

Won't admit his dread of boredom, chief impulse behind

   numerous marital infidelities;

Looks fat in jeans, mouths clichés with confidence,

   breaks mother's plates in fights;

Buys when the market is too high, and panics during

   the inevitable descent;

Still, Pop can always tell the subtle difference

   between Pepsi and Coke,

Has defined the darkness of red at dawn, memorized

   the splash of poppies along

Deserted railway tracks, and opposed the war in Vietnam

   months before the students,

Years before the politicians and press; give him

   a minute with a road map

And he will solve the mystery of bloodshot eyes;

   transport him to mountaintop

And watch him calculate the heaviness and height

   of the local heavens;

Needs no prompting to give money to his kids; speaks

   French fluently, and tourist German;

Sings Schubert in the shower; plays pinball in Paris;

   knows the new maid steals, and forgives her.