Edmund Jorgensen

WOULDN’T YOU LIKE TO BE A PEPPER, TOO?

Thanks for asking! Fitting
In is pleasant, and I’m not
Ashamed to say it, but
I’m not your typical
Conformist either. Sometimes
On a Wednesday night
I’ll go out to a restaurant—
Something ethnic, preferably—
Mexican, maybe Greek—
And just sit there, sipping water,
Nibbling free chips or pita,
Not ordering anything, just
Watching people watching me.
I like the feeling that
America is with me. Is
Interested in how I spend
My days and dollars.
Cares what I wear.
I don’t even mind
The full page ads in magazines.
In fact I cut them out
And tape them to my mirror,
Where I can feel them
Willing me to use
A different hair gel. I like
Going to the cinema,
Tiptoeing out a couple minutes
Before the movie ends and
Waiting in the lobby for the crowd
To exit, the human flood to surge
And ebb and surge around
Me till I close my eyes and feel
For one perfect moment as
Lost and found as
The snowman buried
In an avalanche.

—from Rattle #37, Summer 2012