His Wife and Girlfriend . . .

by Gerald Locklin

Are the confidantes he would most like
To take conversational refuge
From each other with,
But he’s learned each wants to hear
Absolutely nothing about the other,
Including, most emphatically,
Nothing good.
They don’t even want to go with him
To any movie he’s already seen with the other,
And if either suspects he has actually enjoyed
Any time with the other, she will try
To at least create the illusion of having
Been flirted with by someone new
Or, perhaps worse, someone from the past.

He is tempted to suggest to them both
That they just try to see it his way,
Or, perhaps, to ask themselves
The immortal query of Rodney King:
“Why can’t we all just get along?”

But then he remembers how well
That philosophy worked out
For Rodney.