Hi, os folks. I hope you remember me. I am Georgie Puppy, the nephew of Mr. James Emmerling..

I finally know what my problem is. I am a “fatherless boy”. Raised by a single mom .

Uncle told me this yesterday when he came home from the beach  glowing red, holding that book he’s been reading the past few days, by Mr. Robert Bly. The Sibling Society.

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 Bly therefore sees today's men as half adults, trapped somewhere between childhood and maturity, a state in which they find it hard to become responsible leaders, carers and fathers,

which in turn leads to the passing down of that immaturity through the generations.

In his book The Sibling Society (1997),

Bly argues that a society formed mainly by half adults is extremely problematic as it lacks in leadership, daring initiative, creativity and a deep care about others.

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“Georgie , there are a lot of kids like you today. It is a nationwide phenomenon.” He said this with that irksome know it all look on his face. I considered stealing the sandwich Momma had made for him, that he was about to eat. In front of me.

Oh, but then my love kicked in & I licked uncle’s leg and tasted something yucky. “Sunscreen,” the monkeys call it .

Uncle got me calling people monkeys, after his  lesson on “natural selection,” which I must admit I have a hard time accepting fully. But that is the reason people don’t have fur anymore. I was hungry, and wanted a corner of his sandwich, like he always gives me if I sit there and listen to his monkey talk.

This was mighty strange, even from Uncle…

“Mr. Bly says that human beings are remarkably similar to the eighth month fetus of a chimpanzee. He says, we somehow managed to evolutionarily…I told you about evolution, fuckhead, didn’t i?....anyway..interrupted our last month of womb time, cuz we got such big heads. We emerged premature. That allowed our heads to grow very very big. Much bigger than dogs’, for example” Uncle had been drinking a lot of diet coke and spent three hours in blazing sunlight. I was having a hard time keeping up with him, but I had to bite back my objections to this silly useless kinda talk. For god’s sake, Uncle, eat your sandwich and take me for a walk.

“Uncle,” I said, as he chomped into the ham & cheese Momma had prepared for him before she went out biking with the New Guy, “ tell me more about what it means to be a fatherless boy.” I pretended to be worried. I am not terribly worried. I got my Momma, and that is really all I need , cuz she is so sweet and soft and nice to me all the time, even if I steal something …she may screech a bit, but that is just temporary. All I gotta do is sit there looking guilty. Whatever ‘guilty’ feels like.

I am Momma’s guardian. Noone gets near her without going through me.

Well, except Uncle. But uncle is her monkey brother.

Uncle was done with his sandwich and threw me my corner. A big corner. Now I had to listen to him.

“Georgie, you haven’t had a dad. You long for one. As do many kids today.  See, in my day, when we had great dads like my dad, George, who is your namesake, we boys got mad at dad at a certain age, and this was good. Or, well, sometimes. If you can stand up to your father, you are a man. See?”

Not really. But maybe it was like how I kinda wanted to nip uncle in the shin right now to shut him up.

I said, “I see…”

Uncle sat back and rubbed his red face. He looked like he just got out of the oven! Or got boiled in hot water, like that lobster I played with once, after Momma threw him in the boiling water.

“Ow. Too much sun and fun today. That new guy is a cool guy. I like him.” Uncle was looking kinda sad. The new guy was alright, but not Uncle quality. He was too..damn…fast. Kept Momma running around like a puppy.

“He is actually kinda like a brother to me, Georgie, now. Don’t tell him. We men don’t show a lot of that lovey stuff you dogs do. We are stoic. New guy is stoic. What were we talking about?” Uncle was reaching for more diet coke. I wish he would lay off that stuff.  

“Why I am out of luck cuz I am fatherless, according to mr. bly, and you,” I said impatiently.

 “Ah yes. See, today, kids don’t have dads. They have moms only. So they feel obliged to..protect them. They are told to be ‘the men of the house’. To guard the mother. He has this amazing sentence, I gotta quote it to you, uh,” Uncle reached for his little notebook where he wrote all his great thoughts. Or the ones he steals from other people.

“Here it is..’father longing is beginning to replace father anger. That longing is palpable in maximum security prisons,as well as in kindergartens, where small boys tend to hold onto the trouser legs of any man who enters the room and don’t want to let him go.’  “ Uncle looked deeply in my eyes, and I sort of understood. Like when Uncle is getting ready to leave after taking care of me, I keep kissing and kissing him, hoping he will stay..then I see he has to go…but…then I want to bite him.

Uncle was not as silly as he looked right now. He never is. Although the things he says…I think he might be a very unusual monkey. Or maybe that is just me, loving him cuz he is uncle. The new guy says ok things, but not to me. To Momma…

Uncle stood up and said, “alright,enough yakking. Time for a walk. Let’s go.” He fastened that damn choke chain around my throat and we headed out, him loose on the leash, not ‘heeling’ me. I was in heaven when we hit the street. So many smells…so much doggy business I had to catch up on…I felt a poopy coming from the relaxation.. but Uncle was still talking…

“Georgie,  you’re the very best dog I have ever met. And I’ve met a lot. Remember that. Remember your uncle loves you a lot. And your momma too. And the new guy? He cant help but love you either.”

I was full of just the right feeling as I smelt-felt  our way down the road, under Uncle’s loose grip…

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addendum

 " model of manhood adopted by many men: the Fifties male.  ...

Reagan is a sort of mummified version of this dogged type.

This sort of man didn't see women's souls well,

but he appreciated their bodies;

and his view of culture and America's part in it was boyish and optimistic.

Many of his qualities were strong and positive,

but underneath the charm and bluff there was,

and there remains, much isolation, deprivation, and passivity.

Unless he has an enemy, he isn't sure that he is alive."

IRON JOHN.