Are you the hero of your own
dime novel
Are you the toy at the bottom
of the cracker jacks box
Are you the name on the wall
of the public bathroom
Are you the saline solution
they use to detox
Are you that groove in the record
that repeats over again
Are you a promise forgotten
carried off by a friend
Are you a serial spectator
whose ticket’s not punched
Are you a banquet disaster
in search of your lunch
Is your mirrored reflection
left empty and cold
Is the one option left you
—forlorn but foretold
(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2018)