There are guests at the dinner

friends at the party

he laughs when he says

almost drove past the church that day

there’s a list in his head

a repertoire

he talks about his acid years

man I was crazy

took off my clothes

threw ‘em all in the creek

his kayaking days

I paddled the Chattooga

that’s the one in “Deliverance”

a Class Five river

I’m an expert of course

and she sits beside him

he calls her his lady

she smiles when he says

almost drove past the church that day

and later at home

the friends at the party

the guests at the dinner

will ask one another

why he thought that was funny

did you see the look on her face

they will say

and she lies beside him

at night in their bed

grinding her teeth

working her jaw

the stories play on a loop in her head

she goes through the list

his repertoire

I would’ve been drafted

he tells people now

on my way to South Vietnam

but that’s when we learned—

he looks at me

he laughs and mouths “thank you”

and sometimes at night when I'm lying in bed

grinding my teeth

working my jaw

when our repertoire plays on a loop in my head

I picture a church and a car driving by.

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