a tomato in Italy
or a grape in France
every expectation to
grow smart and strong
show up your peers
go to the head of the class
and graduate into
a dish worthy
of kissed fingertips
or a glass
sniffed swished and
sipped with a smile
anything less
a family’s failure
its worst shame
ketchup
or
jelly
it’s clouds I dislike when my soul is cold and hope must search in their shadows it’s clouds I need to force a houseclean or at least reduce the dust on my library of regrets it’s clouds I browbeat if
if you don’t care about the characters your heart falls asleep? life is no different anyone that tumbles into a well needs only confess regret and plead their deepest need to awaken neighbors who thro
for the raven who blows out his head feathers to attract a sweetie like a black-leathered Fonz he mumbles an off-color pickup line that cocks her head before both spot the ham sandwich on pumpernick