Five of My Greatest Fears In No Particular Order

1.

John quickly, as

if his body was

predetermined to do so,

slices the pizza in a flat five seconds.

No one has ever beaten his record.

He couldn't care less.

He is built like a tank

with the mind of a closeted nerd.

Looks don't match his persona.

He likes it that way.

Graduated three years ago.

Almost didn't.

31 on the ACT he took last Fall.

Colleges haven't sent any letters.

He couldn't care less.

2.

Danielle answers phones and

scribbles on tickets as if

she were Mozart conducting

his final piece.

Her pink cowboy boots

are gracefully tucked under

her flared-out jeans.

They match her flared-out nostrils.

She moved here three years

ago from Missouri Valley �"

the only place I can think

of that might be more hick

than here.

She yells at me for

not putting enough

fake yellow atop

of the fake pepperonis.

I make my middle finger match

her flared-out nostrils.

3.

Hector was 16 when

he took this job.

That was 5 months ago.

His youngest sister is 5

years-old.

His oldest sister is

5 years from being

16 herself.

He'll be 21.

His shifts are spent

eroding over

the thought that

he still might

be here by then.

4.

Ashley loves her daughters.

They are the light of her life

and without them, she'd

be just another girl who

never made it through

high school.

Children give some women

a purpose.

Ashley was 14 when

she found her purpose.

Not always wise,

but the dumbest ideas

always turn out to

be the most beautiful

paintings,

with the most luscious

colors and textures

the world has ever seen.

5.

Michelle has been a

proud member of the

pizzeria for almost 20 years.

She is only 41 years old.

The next time our Earth

circles the Sun half of

her life will be spent

counting,

microwaving,

washing,

drying,

and cooking

with so much ferocity

I have to rethink my

passions.

All in the name of pizza.

Sometimes I wonder

if she writes poems

in her head like I do.

Maybe she had a dream once.

Maybe she wanted to

write a book about

how Earth is

a perfect circle with

more beauty than

anything else imaginable.

How some flowers bloom

even when it isn't springtime

and this just proves that

anything is possible

if we just dream hard enough.

Author's Note

I just found this in my folder today. I wrote it in February. I don't think it's very good but I like the last point.