Friday, March 3, 2023

COMPLAINANT

 

The jail-keeper's beautiful daughter insists

I've wronged her. At the last minute, I cut her

From a poem I wrote because she threatened

To upset its balance. She says the trio

Who replaced her -- a rat, a roach and a spider --

Haven't any of her star power but that

Is precisely why they're in a poem whose star

Mightn't like being eclipsed. The daughter

Has threatened to complain to her union

(Who knew that jail-keepers' beautiful daughters

Had a union? Or that it was affiliated

With the Teamsters?) unless I soon

Let her have a poem to herself. So far,

I've refused but I'm wavering and have asked

Her father for advice. All he talks about, though,

Is his career as the hangman's beautiful son.

He's still a considerably handsome man

With flecks of gold shining in his beard.

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