The Hamlet Project

Isn’t that just what we all need?
Someone to label and critique our answers,
Someone to translate and codify
What we say to our loved ones.
“Thanks very much for picking me up at the station, Mother.”
“What a nice thing for a boy to say to his mother! Nice work!”
As if familial relations were moderated by
Siskel and Ebert (or whomever the new guy is) or
Beavis and Butthead.
Now
He’s all thumbs up
All smiles
All praise
But one can feel how mercurial this smiling may be
How temporary this compliment.
Who is this man to judge
A son’s love of his mother?
Who is he to pat the boy on the head and pinch
His cheeks and say
How sweet he is
How loving
How fair.