Somehow
You became that dad
All of us thought
Was just fiction –

The man who hid
Behind cameras
For a laugh
When his cover was blown,

Seeing families at home
Watching still
Long after that tape
Had been rolling

Over years now
Making us smile
Through cliched lines
Turning true.

Every joke
Had hinted beliefs,

Despite first
Appearing too raunchy,

In better days
Bringing real laughter
Like Friday nights
Watching Bob’s show –

Where commercials
Seemed so unimportant
Comparing such words
Shared between them

Among kids,

Amid relatives gathered,

Gaining morals
From this guy who’d pretend.

Perhaps it honestly
Wasn’t an act,

Mostly shtick
Held tightly together
By these genuine threads
Still connecting
Every viewer grown up
With your name.

I imagine
Heaven’s studio audience
Live before God
Getting ready,

Awaiting those gags
Always filthy,

But soon
Hearing wisdom instead.

• J. Pigno