artwork: robin chapman
GOING WITH
by Robin
Chapman
At ten, his
hair slicked back
With styling
mousse, Josh
Let's us know
he thinks he's going
With a girl in
his class, who called
A friend, who
called to ask.
In front of
the mirror the rest
Of the evening
he tries on ties—
Fat ones, thin
ones—his face
Alight,
practicing for the first time
The
complicated, conventional knot.
~ first
published in The Christian Science Monitor
