I met a man today
a young man
with muscles
lots of them
a weightlifter/ bodybuilder…
they’re so taken with themselves
you know,
all about themselves.
He was clerking in a power-vitamin store
where I was buying the 4# jug of protein powder.
Upon leaving, my daughter pointed out
I was driving around with my new
license plates on the seat instead of on the bumper
where they belonged,
and my temporary paper tag in the window
had expired yesterday.
I didnt want to get a ticket, so…
‘Can I borrow a screwdriver,’ I asked
bodybuilder man… I thought the store’d have one
in the back.
But, no, bodybuilder man
bounded out the door, across the parking lot,
rummaging in his Jeep, but came back empty handed.
‘Thought I had one there,’ he said.
Today I met another man, old construction guy with tool belt…
you know how all they really do is lean against the girders
and whistle at girls and plan the beerfest
in the Stratro-lounger each night… all while pounding
a nail or two daytimes.
Well, muscleman had hiked three stores down
where he knew construction man was working.
‘Got a screwdriver?’ he asked.
‘Sure,’ said tool belt man.
I had my hand out, ready to take the screwdriver…
but no, bodybuilder man was already squatting
at my truck, unscrewing the fat bolts
and slapping the plates on front and back, right smart.
He stood. Grinned at me like he just caught
a mermaid on a safety pin with no bait.
I blurted out,
‘You’re one of the last of the royal knights, you know.’
And he did that ‘guy thing’ than any woman
who’s a woman, loves so much, that ‘duck and blush’
thing men do when they are heart-pleased.
And carpenter man came to the curb to get
his tool, and bodybuilder man said, ‘Thanks Bud.’
Carpenter man said, ‘Happy to help.’
And I said thank you to him as well, and all
his whiskers expanded and went wide as he smiled.
‘It’s my job Ma’am,’ he said, and he saluted…
Marine eagle on his arm flexing over the anchored world.
You know how those tattooed carpenter construction
worker bodybuilding weightlifter young/ old guys are.
You know how they are. They keep horses
down at the river, an old underground river
that still runs clear.