Post by David Nelson Bradsher on Dec 24, 2008 1:18:18 GMT -5
Must Wash Hands
In the bathroom of a Burger King,
he’s trying out the Pontius Pilate bit
of washing off the fault for anything
that might suggest he caused their public snit.
It happened fast, too fast for him to stop her
when all he asked was just a simple question—
“Would you prefer grilled chicken or a Whopper?”
followed up with the benign suggestion
that her complaints about some extra pounds
might be directly linked to what she ate.
Through clenching teeth, she said, “That may be grounds
for murder, to critique a woman’s weight.”
As if on cue, all patrons edged away
like children circling round a school yard fight,
watching a bully tease a hapless prey
with setup lefts before a roundhouse right.
The jabs were verbal, tentative and weak,
nothing like the slap she aimed and landed
across the pinkness of his puffy cheek
with a wintry palm, unhinged and open-handed.
Through the crowd, he walked—no, he retreated
to stand there shaking, claiming innocence
as he attempts to get the soap that's needed
from a dispenser that will not dispense.
David Nelson Bradsher
In the bathroom of a Burger King,
he’s trying out the Pontius Pilate bit
of washing off the fault for anything
that might suggest he caused their public snit.
It happened fast, too fast for him to stop her
when all he asked was just a simple question—
“Would you prefer grilled chicken or a Whopper?”
followed up with the benign suggestion
that her complaints about some extra pounds
might be directly linked to what she ate.
Through clenching teeth, she said, “That may be grounds
for murder, to critique a woman’s weight.”
As if on cue, all patrons edged away
like children circling round a school yard fight,
watching a bully tease a hapless prey
with setup lefts before a roundhouse right.
The jabs were verbal, tentative and weak,
nothing like the slap she aimed and landed
across the pinkness of his puffy cheek
with a wintry palm, unhinged and open-handed.
Through the crowd, he walked—no, he retreated
to stand there shaking, claiming innocence
as he attempts to get the soap that's needed
from a dispenser that will not dispense.
David Nelson Bradsher
