Todd Mercer – Bearsuit – 1

 Uncle Bearsuit

by Todd Mercer

Mom’s brother Remy would shout,
“Christ in a side-car!” and then launch into a disgusted rant
about the government or his fear that impoverished people
somewhere receive aid. He was as unpleasant as they come
but still rated a standing Thanksgiving invitation.
He used to kick it off yelling, “Well fuck me in a bear suit!”
This had all us cousins in stitches, but Grandma made him stop.
After Uncle Remy died of a massive stroke
when he was royally angry at the television,
it was twenty years before anyone
took up the Cranky Uncle mantle.
Friends, it’s heavy a.f.

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Todd Mercer was nominated for Best of the Net in 2018. He won 1st, 2nd & 3rd place of the Kent County Dyer-Ives Poetry Prizes and the won Grand Rapids Festival Flash Fiction Prize. Todd’s work appears in: The Drabble, The Lake, The Magnolia Review, Praxis, and Softblow.