Existential Knock-Knock Joke

Knock knock!

Who’s there?

I am.

I am…who?

I am here, he who was born into
this world, raving and bloody, through
the selfishness, the lust of two other
beings, beaten into the confines of
man’s society—the will of others vis-à-vis
the will of the self—only to have
this bitter, Sisyphean struggle
result in nothing more than in the erasure of all
breaking down to cosmic dust
and being broken down into dust and dust
and cast into cold space, entropic universe
embraced in death death
Death.

Ha ha. Good one.

fatherly advice

i stood on the field
the smell of the glove’s leather
hitting my nose
catch
my dad said
and i caught the ball
remember this for as long as you live
he said
because it’s even easier
to catch herpes

————

Aaron Barry is an English teacher, respected dad-rock critic, and retired pugilist (1903-1914). His work has been featured in over thirty magazines, including Modern Haiku Magazine, The Peak, and Poetry Pause (forthcoming), which he frequently brings up when talking to strangers. He is currently working on a book of writing prompts and may be found on Instagram as @a.m.barry.