Passing

You ask your wife,
"Why must it always be
about perceptions?”
“Well," she replies, "they say
perception is nine tenths
of the law.”

“No,” you correct her,
“That’s possession.
Possession is nine tenths of the law.”
“You must be right,” she sighs.
“You always have to be right.”

Touche’

This week you wrote villanelles
so that at tonight's party
you could pass yourself off
as a lyricist.
“A song writer? That explains
the black turtleneck.”
chortled your host.
“Thank God, I thought
you might be a poet.”

That’s how others think.

But you are lying
on your bed now,
comparing your life
to an obscure French movie,
one where the English comes
only in subtitles.

You resolve to write
an epic narrative
about the whole sordid thing.

Next weekend you will wear
a crew neck, and pass
yourself off as a film critic.

You are always passing;
it’s forever about perceptions

Published by Stimulus Respond