18 | February | 2016 | Golden Star Poetry

what are the odds!
he rolls the dice and the words come out
like the script does!
he’s ready with twenty
thirty
comeback lines in his pants pocket

we want an explanation
for the ready made reaction
we want to know how you get it so good
the girls are all dying to know
the boys all want to know how to make a good show

step out with confidence!
he says,
we don’t wanna see any fear in your eyes.
just say it, you know?
be a hero
he cracks up
or you try imitating my grandmother when she
stops taking her zoloft

and the man says hey you did it again
and he says i’m sorry what
and he said you did the thing again
and he said oh im sorry i guess it just comes from my subconscious
and he smiles goofy.

or maybe it’s culture,
or what tv shows you watched as a kid
or what you did in your free time in college
or how late you stayed up reading Nabokov.

try not being so nervous,
he says
it ruins the vibe.
you have to be cool
he says, and makes a funny face.
we all cracked up.
but nobody knows how to do it like him.