Navy Days

by Michele McDannold

Ya know,
if you want a sad story,
I’ve got `em.
buckets full of guts-
yeah, tarred with cancer.
Not your trick,
fine. pass `round the corner
to the seven guys I fucked for fun
it’s not much when you think of seven
certainly not much to my man’s 100s
but I’m a gurl.

and boy, he loves to tell them stories
`bout those fuckin’ whores he did
back in the Navy days
shootin’ bananas out their twats
for fuck’s sake!

Yet I was tender once.
youth had it’s way with my head
and a girlfriend too.
well, truth be told
it was mostly just
strawberry fields and electric blankets
but my truth is like mold
in our living room.

so it’s all like
yes, cap’n
I’ll play the shame
for that one-
in trades for this.