Easy Access
Sure, on the tape I made it sound
like it’s easy,
and it’s true, when you’re a star,
it’s a huge advantage.
Still, there’s skill involved. You
wouldn’t know it
from the media, but I’m, like, a
smart guy.
I don’t get any credit for what
I’ve done.
I’m a huge success, huge success, but
it’s been a hard road. Like when my
father
decided I should go to military
school.
I didn’t want any part of it at
first. Ended up loving it,
there were simple rules you had to follow
to keep the stiffs happy and win
them over.
Easier than pleasing my father.
Real estate, making big money,
becoming a reality TV star.
Not just anyone could have done it.
I worked hard,
okay, it’s true, I know, I just had
this talent--
for schmoozing and turning on the
charm.
Then, at some point, the deals just
started coming to me.
The women were just kind of a perk.
There’s nothing like the hunt
though,
kind of like trying to swing a big
deal.
The one I was talking about on the
tape,
can’t understand why I didn’t get
in there.
Did what I always do, the flirting,
the flowers,
expensive meals and wine. Sometimes
you have to be persuasive in a
different way.
Usually, it’s the con though.
You just have to feel out what they
need, give them
what they want. And hey, suddenly--
you’re leader of the free world.
Steve Granzyk lives in Chicago and has
taught film studies and poetry writing at the University of Chicago Laboratory
Schools, and for many years taught literature in public high schools. He has
previously published poems in the English Journal (May 2015)) and in Blacklight,
a Black Student Association magazine at U of C (December 2015). This poem was
inspired by a Forms and Features Workshop through The Poetry Foundation in
Chicago.
Tags:
Poetry