poem “Y Chromosome Missing”, a poem about being a woman and hearing a stranger come up to you repeatedly and tell you that over his life he wished his wives could have ever given hin a son, By Chicago Poet and performance artist Janet Kuypers

[the Writing of Kuypers] [JanetKuypers.com] [Bio] [Poems] [Prose]

See YouTube video
of Kuypers reading this poem 9/12/12 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (Canon)

See YouTube video
of Kuypers reading this poem 9/12/12 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (Sony)

See YouTube video
of Kuypers’ “Grocery Store Stories” 9/12/12 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (with this poem; Canon)

See YouTube video
of Kuypers’ “Grocery Store Stories” 9/12/12 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (with this poem; Sony)

See YouTube video
of Kuypers’ open mic 9/12/12 at Gallery Cabaret’s the Café Gallery in Chicago, plus her poetry (including this poem)

See YouTube video from 3/18/17 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Y Chromosome Missing” and “Job that Only Paid the Bills” @ Austin’s Recycled Reads 3/18/17 (this video was filmed from a Canon Power Shot SX700 camera, and was posted on Tumblr).

See YouTube video from 3/18/17 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Y Chromosome Missing” and “Job that Only Paid the Bills” @ Austin’s Recycled Reads (this video was filmed from a Canon Power Shot SX60 camera, and posted on Tumblr).

Y Chromosome Missing
Janet Kuypers
8/17/12
So this man comes
to where I work
once every week or two,
and
at least
for the past three times
he has stopped
for,
I don’t know,
forty minutes,
to talk to me.
And you know,
I have work to do,
and even if
I didn’t
have work to do,
I’d rather
tuck my hair
behind my ears
repeatedly,
or pick at the skin
around my cuticles,
than listen to him.
But please
let me tell you somethmg
about this man...
(And yes,
he had told me
all of this
repeatedly...)
He is sixty-six years old.
He worked two jobs
and made a ton of money.
If the economy would
improve, his house
would be worth
three point five million
again, with jacuzzia
both indoors and outdoors.
He had three wives,
but divorced all of them
because they all
cheated on him.
(Can’t imagine why.)
He had two daughters
and he tells me
they are good looking,
but they’re still
both single after forty,
so he helped buy
each of them
their own house.
And he’s told me
more than once,
that he wished
any of his wives
could have given him
a son.
I mean,
he loves his girls,
he tells me.
But why couldn’t they
give him a son?
A few boys
would have been better,
but if only
they could have
ever given him
even just one son.
Yes,
he’s told me this
repeatedly,
while I’m working.
I’m sorry.
I thought I should
share this with you
before he spots me
sometime in the future
and tells me his life story,
and how much money he has,
and what a nice guy he is,
before he relays to me
his desire for a son
all over again.

my hand to an anim of jkchair