Mom and I watched
The Phil Donahue Show
on summer vacation. At fifteen
sometimes I didn’t get what
his guests were talking about —
like when an authoritative man
said don’t use words
like husband and wife. We should
call our lovers attaches.
I pictured band-aid lovers
attaching to us, or worse,
leeches that suck out our blood.
Oh my darling attache,
I imagined saying
to any numbers of crushes.
Eternal fidelity and soda crackers.
If I could be an attache,
Would I impress authoritative men?
Phil would hand me the mic
and I’d ask what was it like
to meet Bette Davis.
Kenneth Pobo
Author
Kenneth Pobo, age 65, lives in Media, Pennsylvania. He is a professor of creative writing and English at Widener University in Pennsylvania.
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