Long Overdue Apology To Keith Romine Poem by Raj Dronamraju

First, I was not happy Keith Roman was invited to my party
Second, I was not happy we were late going to the restaurant
Third, I was not happy we were pulled over by a cop for a minor traffic offense while on the way
And again, I was not happy they invited Keith Roman to the party they threw for me

Abused by a strict military father
Mollycoddled by a not strict enough stay at home mother
With no meeting point of moderation between the two

So Keith laughed in a mechanical whinny until he was forced to take puffs from his asthma inhaler
His stance was slightly bent over, plagued with tremors as if shaking hands with himself
He blinked continuously and stammers on every word sounding like Peter Lorre
His teeth were protruding, malformed, yellow

I was not happy because I felt Keith Roman would embarrass me in front of my friends
But the truth is we are all jackanapes
Our motivations are internal desire and external fear of exclusion from the herd
Servitude of what we want and how we think others see us