My Ironic Parrot
by james bezerra
I have an ironic parrot
who repeats everything that I say,
but repeats it in a way
that makes me think
that she’s making fun of me.
“You look very nice today,” I say.
And she says, “You look very nice today.”
My ironic parrot,
she has a way
of repeating the things that I say
that makes the meaning go the other way.
“I will totally miss you today!” I say.
And she says, “I will totally miss you today.”
I used to have an ironic parrot.
She used to parrot everything that I would say,
but in a decidedly ironic way.
So one fine day,
I opened the window and let her fly away.
Now I have a Labrador retriever
who doesn’t parrot anything that I say.
He is so adoring –
but also kind of boring –
in a totally non-ironic kind of way.
Finally one day,
I said, in a kind of mean way,
“Damn it Labrador retriever, you’re just no fun!”
And from the window ledge behind me came a reply,
“You’re just no fun.”
And there she sat, awaiting something else to say;
my ironic parrot.
“I did not miss you at all,” I said and lied.
“I did not miss you at all,” she replied.
.
.
.
