Worse than You
I’d had a bad week teaching.
My students stared through me
like fish who’d grown tired
of the aquarium.
To cheer me up,
she took me to an open mic night
at a bowling alley bar.
The comedian forgot half his jokes.
Sweat soaked through his wolf howling T-shirt.
At one point, he whispered,
“I practiced this in the mirror,”
and began to cry.
By the end of the set,
he’d saved our marriage.
We went back the following week.
He killed.
We fought the whole way home.
*
Patrick G. Roland is a writer living with cystic fibrosis. His poetry and short fiction have appeared in Rattle, Hobart, Peatsmoke, Rust & Moth, Sky Island, and A-minor, among others. His work has been recognized by Wigleaf’s Top 50 Longlist and has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction. He lives near Pittsburgh with his wife and two children.
Website: patrickgroland.com
Twitter: @pg_roland
BobbyDarin had an upbeat jazz song “That’s the Way Love Is (That’s How It Goes)”–the title refrain pops into my mind at times and helps me feel good, as this poem does.
The truth of this poem is sadly true! And darkly uplifting.
Sorry, not anonymous, the above comment about dark uplift is mine. A specail category of poetry, well done in this poem.
Now I am crying like the comedian. Knockout poem.