Wantin' to Brag 'bout a Grab Bag

" Wantin' to Brag 'bout a Grab Bag "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán


An irreverent upstart
up and coming
mined secrets
subscribing to disbeliefs


surreptitiously grasping
at wantin' to brag
'bout a grab bag
impeccably hairless
ripped at the chest


merely decorative
as an imperative
little to do
with a weathered
far better
like time-yellowed
minutiae-packed
au naturels


shaping a pal-lavish statue
before and after
third-world laughter
no matter how crass the facts


as seemingly last-chance
answers of pragmatic
physical attractiveness
for frankly minor characters


being stared at
suspiciously skin deep
coated in cold cream
as a relief for not being pretty
in a classic cock-in-a-henhouse play


nicely understated
going no place
outlasting
latter-day saints
as rules give way
to snakey
staying power
of an elaborately
fanciful all-star cast


bluntly declared
thankfully standard
as habits of having
the formidable flair
of serviceable crafts
for whatever happens
unfairly at random


signing away shares
banded as unanswered
founded thereafter
without releasing
coquettish details
of the tales diagramed
by an overcalling declarer


leading the club jack
and overruffing the dummy
forewarned about bad trump
by pyramids of purple
heads in buns without standing up
for the troubled imitations of one
another as subtle everyones


transfixed by twitchy fingers
and darting feet mimicking
rogue peace nominees
during lab procedures
in munitions depots


oozing aching the most
dog trainers saying "Follow!"
dry as a bone read as bar codes
grooved in a cratered road
all in a row yellowish as a lion's coat...