RIBS FOR THE ROAD

can i make you laugh today
can i tell you a story
that will make you smile
or will the dryness
or will the crude edge
only make you frown

let me try

i’m stuck in an airport
delayed again, nonetheless
it’s dinner time and i’m hangry

there only two large restaurants
in the airport, one i hate
therefore, my choice
has been simplified

i order the ribs slathered
in a sauce named after
a famous kentucky sour mash

i wait and watch people
move along the concourse
finally, my food arrives

the ribs are…
huge…
…sorry i forgot to take a picture…
…pterodactyl sized…
ribs

people in the restaurant are staring
jaws dropped, mouths agape
wondering what on earth
is he going to do with that

i know i’m wondering

doesn’t matter, i’m famished
and i need to eat now
delayed flight statuses change
in a new york minute

i unfold my napkin
to retrieve my knife
lo and behold
it is a butter knife

seriously?

i look for the server
however, she along with
her cohorts are a scurrying
because the place is packed

many flights were delayed today
and many folk don’t have
many places to go
so they stop here for the show

watching me with my butter knife,
fork, big paper towel napkin in hand
tearing through my ribs
for the road