Ten True Facts About Me

A poem by J. Allyn Rosser


I have always wondered what it would be like
to be socially adept; blind; a bird.

I never have aspirin on me when I need it.
I love Fritos. I cannot resist a Frito.

I am drawn to people who at first seem callous.
Then I’m surprised to learn that they are.

I always think I will suck on an ice cube until
it dissolves but I always wind up crunching down.

I don’t always believe the truth,
but when given the chance I usually tell it.

Every time I cross a bridge over water I think of jumping
but I have never been suicidal.

Shaking hands is always distasteful. Too distant for someone
you like, too intimate for someone you don’t, or don’t yet.

I like to casually utter invented slang and proverbs.
Whose wings are flesh, his feet are wax.

I can’t use anyone’s first name until we’ve shared
at least four conversations, maybe a beer.

For me what’s scary about the movie image of Frankenstein
is the way his forearms jut out from his sleeves.

I stood for a long time on the Ponte Vecchio in 2002.
I was alone, and there was a lot of wind.

I plant things that the deer eat before they have a chance to bloom.
Then the next year I plant them again.

You can learn a lot about people by how frequently they close
emails with “Love,” but you need to get their password to find out

and by then it’s too late. I had a friend who used
the word love a lot, but her drawbridge was always up.

If you give me a choice between a bag of Fritos
and a homemade brownie I won’t know what to say.

When I have insomnia it is invariably after
I have been too truthful with someone.

Keeping a journal, he told me, is like simultaneously
building and burning a bridge over Lethe.

He could never remember I take my coffee black.
Nevertheless we were lovers.


© J. Allyn Rosser, 2004