Daughter number two, 
toddling at twenty-three 
months; strawberry-blond ringlets, 
a remake of Shirley Temple. 
Cornflower-blue eyes and lucid 
skin—a still drying portrait 
turning heads of strangers 
in the vegetable aisle. 

Visiting her Uncle Harald 
her ears flip a summersault. 
His name somehow transforms 
into Uncle Horrible. Maybe 
he shouldn’t have done his mad-dog 
growl, used for frat-boy initiations 
and joke-scaring his own small sons. 

Decades later he fondly 
remains “Uncle Horrible,” 
a nickname sticky as bubble gum 
on a Macon sidewalk in July—
a spot, but not a stain. 

Gary Grossman,

Professor Emeritus of Ecology at University of Georgia, has poems, short fiction, and essays in 47 literary reviews. His work has been nominated for Best Small Fictions and the Pushcart Prize for 2023. For 10 years Gary wrote “Ask Dr. Trout” for American Angler magazine. His poetry books Lyrical Years (Kelsay Press) and What I Meant to Say Was... (Impspired Press), and his graphic memoir My Life in Fish: One Scientist’s Journey (Impspired Press, 2023) all may be purchased from Amazon.

Author’s website: www.garygrossman.net

And his blog: https://garydavidgrossman.medium.com/