09-14-2026, 10:02 PM
(09-12-2026, 02:32 AM)matsunosuperfan Wrote: BecauseAlso too soon to critique for me but as a reader who found no obscurity here and is still pondering what lies beneath I have no problem with the use of the hanging reference. Those lines express the depth of sadness, the resignation of having to accept what is. Gordon may have indeed felt that but in addition gave respect to the depth of feeling children experience, knowing it would break their little hearts.
When Mr. Hooper left for good, Big Bird
couldn't take it: he said He’s never coming back?
and then, neither could I. I cried so loud
my mother thought someone had done me wrong.
I liked Sesame Street because the world was just 4 people
and all 4 of them were nice as hell
and 2 of them were black. They didn't sugarcoat it either,
gave it to us straight. Susan took one look at Gordon,
and he stood up like a man
about to cut his daughter down
from a poplar tree. Nobody was smiling, you could tell
it was for real. It fell to him to help the children
old enough to understand accept the truth:
good people, the people we love, die.
I didn't want to get it. I’d seen enough to know
you never really get it back. Big Bird hangs his sadness
from a wire in the sky, I hear his voice break
as he asks Why, Gordon?
Gordon says,
Because.
Also, I love the last line, perfect for me.


