2 Poems by Michael Seeger

Closet Narcissist

I want to know if I exist,
Not some simple aphorism;
Am I a closet narcissist?

Should I ask a pharmacist
About this painful euphemism?
I want to know if I exist.

Or will it simply be dismissed;
Labels are a barbarism.
Am I a closet narcissist?

It seems even the arsonist
Eludes judgmentalism —
But without the fire does he exist?

How long will these symptoms persist
Without causing a schism?
I might be a closet narcissist

Or is it simply Darwinistic,
Or worse —existentialism?
I want to know if I exist —  
I am a closet narcissist.


Why My Daughter Loves One Direction

I am my mother's son
And she loved Frank Sinatra.
And always did.

I grew up to the sound
Of Sinatra singing.

Her music I heard.

When I listen,
I am her.

And when I'm obsessed,
She is me.

I am my daughter's father.
I love Bob Dylan
And always did.

She grew up to the sound
Of Dylan singing.
My music she heard.

When she listens,
She is me.

And when she's obsessed,
I am her.


Bionote

Michael Seeger is a poet and educator residing in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs, California. Prior to his life as a middle school English instructor, he worked as a technical writer for a baseball card company and served as a Marine infantry officer during Desert Storm.  He considers poetry a passion and writing generally a way of life. Michael’s poems have recently appeared in US poetry journals/publications like the Lummox Press, Better Than Starbucks, Anti-Heroin Chic, The Mindful Word and as finalists in several GoodReads contests.