DANIEL ROMO // Two Poems
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Confession
Too much of my writing begins with me riding my bike. Sneaking off campus when I should be grading papers. This is never a metaphor. No one has called me out on it yet. Neither admin nor editors. I haven’t been caught. I hide behind the Starbucks shade and type, surveying every face that enters. The custodian occasionally comes in, but he’s just a custodian. His only power lies in manual labor. Though I’m convinced he rifles through my desk after school. And there was the time I saw the Geometry teacher. We nursed our lattes like wounded educational vets, and pretended not to see each other. An algorithmic pact for maintaining sanity. He understands my escape is more therapeutic than intentional. More fuel for fifth period than not giving a fuck. I’ve used ten sick days, but been perfectly fine every time. Any guilt I’ve had has given way to gall. I’ve written six referrals. Sometimes I can be a jerk. I am NOT a “Fuckin’ Asshole!” The gig is almost up. I’m tired of pedaling. Reliving the same words is for rewording the flight of birds. Call the school police. My hands stab clouds. Eagle Street I am not a welcome mat and my new neighbors never say, Hello. Not a wave or token nod my way. He tinkers in his garage; I pretend the sound of clinking metal is a song played in my honor. Hoo-ray-for. The-man-who’s. Ne-ver-a. Wel-come-mat. He plays it on Saturday. While watching college football, I view his tunes as a personalized fight song. Rah, rah, rah... I sometimes watch his wife bend over while getting groceries from the car. Her face is merely a field goal, but her ass is cheerleader-worthy. At first they were friendly. They invited me over for a homecoming soiree. We bonded over sausages and shots. I gave them the low-down on neighborhood what-nots . But I left early. Since then, they’ve never said, Hello. And their dog barks every night from their backyard like he’s chiding us all for not being more friendly. |
Daniel Romo is the author of Romancing Gravity (Silver Birch Press, 2013) and When Kerosene's Involved (Second Edition, Mojave River Press, 2014). He teaches English and creative writing, and he accepts and rejects prose poems as the Poetry Editor for Cease, Cows. He lives in Long Beach, California and at danielromo.net.
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