Regular Guys No. 2

Dead Men Walking

"Here's to the man that taught you to fish, how to throw and how to forgive.

Heres to your neighbor with the post auger, drywall screws and dump trailer."

-Regular Guys, Jason Keusch, Million Dollar Garage 2025

That was only half the story. Last Sunday was Father's Day. I submitted to you the poem Regular Guys to celebrate the men in our lives. I am pleased with the work and with the outcome. Thank you.

However, the work that preceded the final copy is more difficult to digest. The original copy, the half that I am showing you today, was met by my proofreaders unfavorably. To be fair, I was already struggling with it, but they confirmed my fears. They asked:

"I thought you wanted to help people?" YES.

"I thought you wanted people to read your work and follow you". YES.

"Do you feel this way, are you okay?" NO, but sometimes it creeps into my thoughts.

"What about women? Don't you think they are taken for granted?" OF COURSE.

My peeps love me and they want the best for me, but it is difficult for them to separate me from my work. Sometimes I find the separation difficult too. With consternation, I decided to publish the positive part of the work, Regular Guys, spend some time considering the rest.

I wanted to think it over. I read it to my best friend over the telephone. His response told me that what I had written is, at minimum, reflective of others' feelings. If I were a better writer and thinker, I wouldn't waste your time with this qualifying preamble, but the hurdles to sharing Dead Men Walking taught me something new. And so...I qualify, maybe for me, more than for you…because I’m chickenshit.

In weighing the factors I've alluded to, plus the content of what follows, my thoughts were proven to me. If they are valuable to one person other than myself, it is worth the discomfort. If Dead Men Walking falls flat on its face and gets me a bunch of hate...so be it. Regular Guys is a beer commercial...a guy driving a new F-150. Dead Men Walking a portion of that man that pops up time to time, in varying degrees-the part folks outside of his head usually miss.

Dead Men Walking is not a finger-pointing rant. It is not a political diatribe. It is a one-sided perspective. One simple man's observation stated bluntly for awareness and understanding, and seeking the same from other people.

Of course the examples and words chosen are hyperbolic! to show the point. I am not so arrogant to ascribe truth the words: always, never, all, none, etc. I have no definitive expertise in the subject other than being a man…and caring for men.

I have a one-sided view. How can I find all the other point's of view without stating mine?

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Dead Men Walking

I consider Fathers' Day every year...the forgotten holiday. I used to think that men, to celebrate the occasion, would be better served if their families would just leave them alone. I always knew this statement was dumb, but I also knew there was something more to it. As I have aged, I recognize that the-something-more-to-it was not the observation that men often snuck off to the garage by themselves, but why they did so.

Men, after a certain age are already dead and waiting to be buried. I abhor this thought. I am astonished that I have left it on the page. I feel it though. I think that I see it, daily.

This spring, I wrote a poem reaching to understand this topic. The piece ends like this:

"...And never consider the effort it requires

To take the garbage out when you’re dead

And while he’s taking the trash out

If he’s lucky

The bottom of the trash bag will burst

the weeks refuse will fall out in the driveway

the driveway he swept just yesterday

And he will lose his mind in anger

And scream from the top of his lungs

And throw shit

And carry on

And he’ll be happy for a moment

Just to feel something other than numbness

Just to let out the pent up frustration

at something that won't cause irreparable damage"

-Jason Keusch, Unpublished, 2025

Mark Twin once said: "Most men die at 27, we just bury them at 72"