Invitation

 
An Invitation

Jimmy is frying something weird on the stove

Well, I imagine him to be frying something weird

I’ve never been invited to his home
The rumor is
They are ashamed --

Old couch, stained carpet,
A bucket for a bathroom,
Seven children and two bedrooms,
An invitation:
Come and sit,
Have some coffee, and

Oh, I just fried some walrus,
Please try some.
That’d never happen.
So I ask his daughter:
Please, can I have some polar bear?
Before I leave, I have to have polar bear.
She says: I’ll go ask my dad.
So she goes and asks Jimmy,
And she comes to class,
With her right hand
She gives me a big bowl of bear meat,
(I heard the shots that took its life)
With her left hand
She hands me a framed newspaper article,
Glowing, she tells me:
“My dad was in the paper
When he was 18…
Killed the biggest bear ever.”
I smile, and think:
This is an invitation –

To share what she has.