Biology
Julia
Klatt Singer
He
asks me as he’s doing his biology
What
did you want to be
When
you grew up?
When
you were a kid I mean.
Firefighter,
I tell him. Red
was
my favorite color,
six
my favorite number. Loved
heat
and smoke, loved fire. Loved
the
monkey bars too, so I figured
I’d
like nothing better than the pole
to
slid down.
He
shakes his head,
gives
me a half-smile.
So
how the hell did you
become
a poet?
(He
knows the answer
knows
it is because of him.)
Then
says, do you know how
much
easier my life would be
if
you just fought fires?