The Friday Poem: ‘Lots of Press-Ups'
Lots of Press-Ups
In my dream I was working out
so I could win street fights against fascists.
My trainer asked if I had any special fitness goals.
Not losing the fights, I said.
Winning the fights.
My training was designed to develop
all the essential competencies.
I had bins thrown at me. I was attacked with
two-by-fours like a dangerous degenerate.
We stopped short of setting me on fire.
In weeks I became notably unpathetic
and in the top percentile of readiness.
And my trainer said to me: For now,
use what I have taught you to dig up weeds
and to carry stranded pilot whales back into the sea.
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