My Modest Life....[long; Personal; Humor] Poem by Bri Edwards

i grew up in a modest home. the nearby country i did roam.
modest were my mom and dad. four modest siblings i also had.
geneva was a modest town. at graduation i wore a modest cap and gown.
(ok….my cap had a gold tassel. about that, please don't give me a hassle.)


then i modestly went to cornell; that i'd quit three years later who could tell?
i modestly quit my church beliefs. that there's no hell, for me i'm betting.
i became a conscientious objector and worked two years in hospital setting.
i roomed in a modest home. by foot, bike, and bus i did roam.


then i shared an apartment with brother don. i did modest jobs for modest wages.
my general appearance i think was plain. i was modest, ….not vain.
except for occasional, mild 'depression', it seemed i had not a care.
then (past twenty-five years old) i sought a partner from the sex pool more fair.


first wife (pam) was not so modest…..if by modest one means plain.
she gave birth to our modest daughter (shannon) ....... after a short labor but lots of pain.
pam and i shared five modest homes, and we had a modest dog.
we had a modest divorce....though nine years together we did log.


then i had modest apartments and two modest girlfriends, and kept my modest postal job.
then i married and divorced wife two (debbie) , .....she was at times irrational and a slob.
my very modest yugo i replaced with a honda, the last of my modest cars.
the end of marriage to third wife (donna) i blame (in part) on her emotional lifetime scars.


in 2004 i retired 'early'…. as post office chose to downsize.
at the time i lived in modest comfort.... in a senior citizen highrise.
i modestly pursued volunteer work as i'd done on and off since '86.
with no ties binding me i moved to hometown geneva; some would call it 'move to the sticks'.


i spent a modest few months in cousin's apartment. eye to eye we did not see, .......
so i got my own modest place near college fieldhouse, and walked indoor track for a modest fee.
i found a modest café, 'flour petal', and many modest hours there i enjoyed.
i wrote poems, and........with thoughts of a new partner i no longer toyed.


i met a modest new friend angel. he, it turned out, had some 'issues'.
i made a modest bed of banana boxes, and blew my nose on toilet tissues.
i developed mild hypertension. it seems in control now without pills.
i walked roads and sidewalks in modest shoes, wore modest clothes with no frills.


then a former postal customer, and old guy, henry, 'said': ‘find a geneva woman on the internet'.
he jarred me into action, and that's how my present wife i 'met'.
after a month of emails we met in ithaca (new york state) , though she lived on the west coast.
did she find me irresistable? i don't know, ......and i shall not boast.


she lured me to join her, in san carlos, in her new, not-so-modest-but-small house.
my wife also has a small though not-so-modest car, a prius, which can be quiet as a mouse.
i flew here on a trial basis but stayed to share our lives together.
i'm still a modest guy, trying not to be spoiled by the mild san francisco bay area weather.


i've had a modest ponytail, and i'm modest about my child's success.
but i've eaten a few immodest restaurant meals. they weren't my idea......as you might guess.
i'd say our tv set's not modest, but it's only used to watch library flicks.
(by 'modest' i mean plain or simple; with luxury i seldom mix.)


but i'm not COMPLETELY modest when it comes to my self-image. [ I THINK I'M REALLY GREAT! ]
i have lots of common sense, and......i'm very seldom ever late.


(Jan. and Aug.2011)