Kenneth Pobo

Jeff & Jerry & the Everyday

 

You live in a house with a mailbox
snug against the road. Your gay
agenda: buying lightweight cat litter
and lightweight music. You both know
every lyric on the Bubblegum Hits CD.

Once upon a time someone slammed
your mailbox, left a threatening note.
Twice upon a time someone egged
your house. You’re watched.
You see nothing from the window.
Sometimes. That lesbian couple
you met at the Unitarian church potluck,
you remember when Marta told a story
about their cat getting stuffed
in the trash can. You’re glad
your cats, Fred and Ethel, stay indoors.
Soon maybe you won’t go outdoors.

You wait.
You watch.
It doesn’t
stop.

 

Jerry Says that Being

 

gay is like going
to Heaven and God gives
you the mansion
right next door
to Judy Garland’s—
she’ll sing if
you ask her to,
which of course you do.
She stands by the piano,
millions join in,

God joins in too,
a little
offkey.

 

 

Jeff & Jerry on Separate Vacations

 

Jeff flies to Las Vegas. Desert
ice sculptures thrive like cacti.

Jerry visits Madeline Island, which
publishes a newspaper made of snow,
builds a house from icicles. Back home,

when Jeff goes to Randy’s Sports Bar,
Jerry slips into bed and a book
on Tudor England, loves peace
and heads rolling.

Next year they’ll travel together,
seeking a moment when,
in a row boat, the sun
frog leaps under a lily pad.

 

 

Kenneth Pobo had a new book out in May (2017) from Circling Rivers called Loplop in a Red City. His work has appeared in: Hawaii Review, Caesura, Nimrod, Mudfish, and elsewhere.

 

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