THE SUNDAY POET: Robert Cooperman

Robert Cooperman

 


Robert Cooperman's latest collection is JUST DRIVE (Brick Road Poetry Press).  Forthcoming in 2017 are DRAFT BOARD BLUES (FutureCycle Press) and CITY HAT FRAME FACTORY (Aldrich Press).  Cooperman has had work in MISSISSIPPI REVIEW, THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW, and THE CLASSICAL OUTLOOK

The Best He Could

“I did the best I could with what I had.”—Joe Louis, upon his retirement from boxing

He did the best he could with what he had,

which should be the motto for all of us,

though too often I’ve settled for, “Not bad,”

and made excuses, which is just so sad.

But at least I’m not puffed up and pompous,

though I wish I’d done better with what I had.

Not enough to have rarely been a cad,

since all too often I cringed, a wuss,

not the hero I wanted to be, just not bad.

Not great, nor a beast like Impaler Vlad,

though sometimes I’ve been downright ludicrous,

not someone who did his best with what he had,

often a trial to my poor mom and dad,

and the neighbors were always suspicious,

though I was rarely plain nasty and bad,

and not much attracted to chasing fads.

Still, I wish I’d been more like Joe Louis,

who did the best he could with what he had

and never, never settled for, “Not bad.”