How It’s Hanging

Garfield likes lasagna like I like lasagna,

and while I can’t finish a full tray in one gulp,

I can work my way through a good sized slab at a decent clip.

Garfield perches atop my computer screen,

hanging over the back by his suction cups,

as he has for some thirty plus years,

ever since he found me at the Goodwill store in Kaimukī.

My computers come and go; Garfield is eternal.

He is my closest critic, always grinning at me while I write,

knowing that on any given day, and with great frequency,

we may be rewarding ourselves with lasagna

even if he thinks the writing stinks.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve sat here staring at him and wondered,

What would Garfield say or do here?

Brian Boitano, move over.

Comedy is the hardest thing to write,

humor the hardest thing to find,

but my mentor is patient and steadfast,

and there’s that abiding hunger of the hungry,

always hungry.