A Comfortable Place with Regular Sunshine
Joseph Goosey
When I first read Joseph Goosey, I laughed, and then the double whammy came around and I felt sorry for the poor guy who always seems to end up on the bad end of things and then I realized that poor guy was me…just like Joseph…just like everybody else trying to figure out what the hell we’re doing.
Joseph is an existential comedian. But along the way, he drops mini gems of life-lessons that we all share but have too much pride to talk about. Underdog or astute observer of the small little thorns in the human existence along with the small gifts and treasures.
Low drama like a drum beat left over after the song has already finished, Joseph laughs at his own foibles, giving us the freedom to do so without feeling stupid. He takes the pomposity out of pretension by showing us how the little things matter too. A wonderful gift indeed.
While you may feel sorry for him, you also have a pity for yourself, because you too recognize all those little screw-ups and fall downs a part of your everyday world. And instead of getting up and brushing himself off, plastering on a fake smile and pretending it didn’t happen – he brings your attention to it in a poignant way and then makes you laugh before you even realize you just learned a little more about this big family called humanity.
His odd everyday metaphors, quirky connections and free-associations would launch him into surrealism if it were not for his come-to-my-senses practical observations.
However, I’m making this sound all down-trodden. A Comfortable Place with Regular Sunshine isn’t only about the stuff that doesn’t work. Through minimalist phrases and after-thoughts, some of these poems cast into sharp focus the truly valuable things in life. Love poems to take you by surprise. In seven short lines, If Jesus Christ is This Forgiving He Wouldn’t Have Gotten Himself Into All This Mess says more than a all the flowery Victorian sonnets put together.
At times he’s irreverent, audacious, randy and impertinent but Joseph Goosey has a rare gift I’m sure we’re going to see more and more…the talent to offer a punch line lesson.
Gail Gray
