A Blessing: Morning 4

Today my boss will leave
a 6 pack of beer on my
porch, and also his salary.

Landlord will let me turn
on the fireplace even though
it is a fire hazard and the first
thing I’ll burn is the lease
because no one cares, Brian,
that technically you could be
charging us more, that you
just gave us that initial rate
because it was the middle
of winter and we were white
and you were in a hurry to take
your kids to Disney World
for the 3rd time that year.

Today I won’t smile at
a single person that chokes
women and my stomach
will blush with new roses.

Tonight the brakes
on my bike will finally
let go and I’ll ride straight
into the most expensive
part of the most expensive
cemetery spitting thorns
for my father into the eyes
of each mourner of which
there will be few.

Robin Lee Jordan is the coordinator of the Just Buffalo Writing Center and started the coin-operated, micro-art exchange (B)uffalo (A)rt (D)ispensary. She received her MFA in Poetry from Oregon State University and her poetry/lyric prose has been published or is forthcoming in journals/anthologies such as Dreginald, Dream Pop, Reality Beach, alice blue review, Puerto del Sol, Paper Darts, My Next Heart: New Buffalo Poetry (Blazevox), and Us Too: An Anthology of Withdrawn Poetry (Peach Mag).