by Rodd Whelpley

Let’s destroy the children and drive the neighbors
nuts. Let’s falsify no subtlety. Consume
each other’s anger. Try every hobby,
eat keto, and when that doesn’t work,
let’s drink too much and laugh at common foes.
Let’s buy the season tickets, but never see
the stage. Skip all the anniversaries,
the birthdays, and the like. And for God’s sake
let’s stop smoking. Again. And yet again.
Quit haggling over a divorce like stylish
couples do. Let’s claim we’re always good, and lie
in church, and lie in bed and never parse
the difference. Let’s fight fair for what is love.
Let’s argue, so not one of us can win.

Drawn from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 138 and Sondheim’s “The Little Things You Do Together”

Rodd Whelpley manages an electric efficiency program for 32 cities across Illinois and lives near Springfield. His poems have been nominated for The Best of the Net anthology and the Pushcart Prize. His chapbooks include Catch as Kitsch Can (2018), The Last Bridge is Home (2021), and Whoever Said Love (2022). Blood Moon, Backyard Mountain (2023) is his first full-length collection. Find his work at RoddWhelpley.com. He is sheepishly still on twitter at @Roddwhelpley and on Facebook.