Gum Chewing Not Allowed

by Annmarie Lockhart

I don't like gum chewingyou said
Yeah, well I don't like
being overlookedI replied

We pondered these
limitations, wondered
what they meant

I will make you feel safeyou said
Yes, and I will make
you feel strongI replied

And so negotiations began
and preliminary terms
were struck

I added
a monitoring clause
that wouldn't pass review

and the unseasonable storm
wound down, sunshine through snow
flakes, light, heat, bed, bear

and I wondered why any woman
would ever consent to a man
who didn't love her hair