DON’T BE FLIP 

 

when you drop

 your mate at

   the dock or

 

your children

 at school. Don’t

  be cool. Don’t

 

be coy. Or if

 you do, don’t

  assume it’s

 

okay to act

 that way. For

  today may

 

be your last

 chance at

  joy before it

 

flashes away

 like a tin

  toy in one of

 

those shooting

 galleries in

  midways: those

 

ducks that seem

 to paddle a

  stream that’s

 

not a stream

 but a rotating

  axle,

 

toothed for

 disappearance

  & reappearance,

 

a spit

 without point

  or flame,

 

along which

 randomly clucks

  the whole game.

 

 

TODD BOSS

 

“Don’t Be Flip” appears in PITCH (W. W. Norton, 2012) and is used by permission of the poet. Copyright Todd Boss, all rights reserved.

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