The caller can see the phone
       ringing in its cradle; see the light pour to the tiled floor, the magazines
       heaped by the door, the old zinnias in a pepper jar, the leftovers, the
       dog’s bowl, the unread letters; can almost make out the handwriting
       almost certain it is her own

          The men like The Young and the Restless

 Some of us be rootin’ for the bad guys; some of us be rootin’ for the good.
     — George

And some of us just be rootin’. — from the turnrow

          The women like Guiding Light

The women like Nora Roberts and John le Carré

The men like Danielle Steel and Louis L’Amour

Ever’body likes Jackie Collins

The mens’ units are named for animals and trees

They keep the young ones in Eagle
               Until they get a face on them

          The women’s units are named for signs of the zodiac. Capricorn is
          lockdown
                                           That’s my sign

          She misses her clematis         he misses his dogs

                What they hold in common, their poverty




          More than cold I dislike heat. If the governor would release me to
Alaska, I would promise never again to come anywhere near this state for
any reason whatsoever

Favorite body of water: Arctic Ocean

My idea of a good car: anything that is fast, solid, and bulletproofed

          I can identify: Queen Caseopea (can’t spell her name), Orion’s belt
the Dippers, Seven Sisters

          I detest okra. — Willie