“Clink!”
by Bill Ward
1993
I hear the glasses clink
They say “Cheers” and “Congratulations”
And look at me with their
Painted-on smiles.
I sigh when I think
Of all the times I’ve heard that sound before.
The clink of glass against glass, a toast;
Or the clink of the ice cubes inside;
Or the bottle clumsily bumping into the glass.
I hear the glasses clink.
A small boy,
Sitting alone in his room.
Legos are good company, they snap together nicely.
Legos do not hit.
Legos do not squeeze.
Legos do not breathe that awful breath
Or talk in that slurry voice.
They just snap together, just how I want them.
Why do they pick on me?
I never meant to hurt them.
But I’m clever–I collect the plastic spoons
In my closet, where they won’t be found.
They won’t be found, they won’t hurt me.
The spoon makes a sound too:
The slap as the spoon strikes skin.
I recall the pain that goes with it.
The clumsy hugs.
The stuff in that glass brings out the hugs.
They squeeze, and cry as they say
They love me.
They love me?
They don’t act like it.
Always the ice cubes, the glasses, the bottle.
They clink together, in a sick chorus that knows only one thing.
In the glass there is relief from pain,
Or so they say,
A chance to relax, to unwind, from a tough day at work.
A chance to forget about work,
A chance to forget about me,
A chance to forget about everything–
Except for the glass.
I know I’ll never forget the glass.
Will we make it home alive this time?
I wonder as I crawl in the back seat.
I have my Lego travel case with me.
A case with room for bottles and glasses.
But I have given it a better use.
Snap go the Lego bricks together,
As the seat belt strains to hold me in place.
I am past those times now,
The keys of the computer make their own noise,
They sound a lot like the snap of the Legos.
The graduation party is over, it wasn’t so bad.
Now I’m home, and I’m safe at last.
I made it home alive.
© 1993 William R. Ward
All Rights Reserved
July 8, 1993, 4:19 AM
Migrated from bill.wards.net/blosxom on 2026-04-12