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The Thief
Brian Daldorph

I’m sick of hearing about how great
my sister’s life is, sick of her telling me
about how she’s doing astonishingly well,
with her husband Chad’s dental practice going great guns—
he’ll be hiring a third dentist soon.
Steve’s loving Little League and he’s on debate team already,
and there’s Katy on YouTube doing her flamenco,
twirling the marvelous dress her mother made!
”So how are you doing, Annette?”

What am I supposed to tell her about?
About my therapy with Dr. Johansson
who nods off while I talk?
Or my peach and passion fruit diet—
I’ve lost three pounds in two weeks.
Or my big promotion to Assistant Manager
at Food Market, with 5% discount too!

On the way out I steal my sister’s keys—
bunch as big as a jailer’s.
On my way home, I toss them in the river
and I laugh and laugh and laugh.

—
Brian Daldorph teaches at the University of Kansas and Douglas County Jail. His most recent book is: Words Is a Powerful Thing: Two Decades of Teaching Creative Writing at Douglas County Jail (Univ. of Kansas P, 2021).

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