Hockey
has the power play, you’re familiar with the term, when one team has
the advantage of more players on the ice than the opponent. What that
means, of course, is that the team with the advantage can muscle its
way on to the scoreboard. Jean Hendrickson is always on a power play
and the scoreboard shows it. This poem hits with the same force as her
previous contributions: Armageddon 9/11, Death, New Kid, and Community. Note the use of punctuation to convey tension, anger, and clarity. Score another goal for Jean.
Older, Wiser
By Jean M. Hendrickson
Your unexpected appearance
leer and boozy breath
at my front door
say you think I owe you.
You helped me move
decades ago.
I had little kids.
Three very small ones
and no money.
Their father would have helped,
he said,
but he had a date.
He-had-a-date.
I never had one of those.
You lived downstairs.
Married.
Your wife said “Go ahead.”
You thought she meant it.
You should have read her eyes.
They said “Don’t you dare.”
Yes,
Facebook is a miracle.
–Of sorts.
And, well,
here you are,
evidently,
no better at reading eyes
than you were then,
so listen, instead:
GO AWAY.
Yes, I do mean it.
BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE.
This poem seems very real to me although I have not experienced anything like it.
Thank you, Jean.
I love this. It’s full of vivid thoughts, of choices a woman must make to survive. Glad you blew him off. He didn’t deserve you. Your not for hire.