Sunday, January 12, 2014

No Show


“Dear Fencer, I am writing to ask if you will answer a survey about why people don’t show up for competitions they have preregistered for…”

Dear Fred
You ask what happened

Truth is,

I overslept

Last night the cat was sick 
She puked all night
I had to
Rush her to the vet

Another time, my car—the battery was dead
Or, on the road, an accident clogged up the pike
And there I sat, when
Registration closed

The furnace died, pipes burst the
Toilet is backed up the workmen said he’d come
(and didn’t show)
An inauspicious stain is creeping
Down the wall

I woke up a fever
Ancient injuries flared up
Loading my equipment to the car I
Threw out my back

The editor turned back my manuscript last night and
Asked for cuts
By first thing Monday,
‘Natch

In short
Life happened
That’s all, just
Life