Holly Day’s poem Around the Corner appeared here in January 2013.

The Poets
By Holly Day

I stand alone in the crowd
watching the poets out of the corner of my eye
the six or seven older men with shoulder-length hair
long trench coats and
sophisticated hats

I slowly sidle closer to the group
carefully picking my way to the bar
on pretense of ordering another drink
one of the poets laughs loudly at something
maybe me

I stand close to the group
pretending to be absorbed in the band on stage
practicing my smart and serious expressions
waiting for just one of them to say
hey, I enjoyed your reading, hey
you kind of sucked there, hey,
you’re kind of hot.

thirty years past childhood
and I’m still waiting for the popular kids
to invite me to play.