Poems / October 28, 2023

The Banker, the Poet & the Successful Novelist

Raymond Antrobus
There’s no good way to admit my envies, to say it’s hard 
to be close to someone who has what I want—the money
 
for constant childcare, the advance big enough to stand still
for as long as it takes to get the words out. Tonight
 
what matters most is keeping the conversation going so
we pass the guacamole and the Jalapenos, stuffed 
 
with peanut butter, which I am the first
to bite, not quite believing this recipe exists in a restaurant
 
this fancy, something so improvised, like whoever came up 
with it was high. But the surprise is how the thick texture 
 
of the peanut butter shuts down the spice before it flares 
on my tongue and I nod to both the banker and the successful novelist 
 
that I can handle it.

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