Today’s Poem

Loss for Words

When I traveled back in time
to stop myself from uttering
bourgeoisie at the dinner table,
I had to laugh. The word doesn’t
rhyme with family, and that joke
would be lost on them. What business
did that word have inside this walled
city of mark-down-bins, saved soup can
labels, and all the songs that have gone
out of style? So many stereotypes
fit much more snugly: three martyred
mothers, one stock car-racing in-law,
a little thug growing a dirt lip mustache,
and the superior but still broke college boy.

-Jason Braun