Lowered Expectations
A lyrical look at certain behaviors you just can’t put up with.
Lowered Expectations, Or Why I Won’t Take Ginny to the Lee County Fair
You French-kissed a garbage man in the alley
behind my church. And ate the worms that
oozed from the holes in the bottom of the truck.
This is what I put up with. This is why we can
be nothing more than friends. I’m not judging
you. I’m not distributing video clips on You
Tube or Instagram. But I am filing this away
and naming it something I won’t ever forget.
I like my garbage collectors. I like farmers
and cattle ranchers. I once held hands with a
lawyer and shared a joint with a pool hustler.
This is not about stations in life, how we make
money and who we bed down with on cold,
lonely nights. This is about seeds & lineage,
blood & bones, appendectomies performed
without anesthesia. My backbone tingles
at L-4 and 5 whenever the clouds roll in.
More accurate than radar, stronger than a
Spanish bull, I know when things will soon
turn sour. And I can run, take cover, & pray.
John Dorroh's poetry has appeared in over 100 journals including River Heron, Feral, and Pinyon. Two of his poems were nominated for Best of the Net. He had two chapbooks published in 2022. He is a Southerner living in the Midwest.
This is just killer! Went and found a few more. Good ones out there too. Thanks