Claes Oldenburg: Alphabet in the Form of a Good Humor Bar, by ​Clint Margrave

Claes Oldenburg: Alphabet in the Form of a Good Humor Bar (1970)
 
Dad had done construction work
for an art dealer
who offered the lithograph in lieu of payment.  
 
My parents didn’t know or care much about the drawing, 
but the pastel pinks and light blues
matched the house.  
 
Now all these years later, 
I get a new frame for it, 
hang it behind the couch,
 
notice how the popsicle resembles a brain,
each frozen letter a memory,
melting away.

​Clint Margrave

This poem was written in response to Alphabet in the Form of a Good Humor Bar. Click here to view it. 

Clint Margrave is the author of the novel Lying Bastard (Run Amok Books, 2020), and the poetry collections, Salute the Wreckage, The Early Death of Men, and Visitor (Forthcoming) all from NYQ Books. His work has appeared in The Threepenny Review, Rattle, Cimarron Review, Ambit (UK), Verse Daily, and The Writer’s Almanac, among others.  He lives in Los Angeles, CA.