The Sand Hill Review               http://www.sandhillreview.org 2008

Charmed

You call winning the football pool

the luckiest thing

that’s ever happened to you.

I have to wonder.

If pocketing ten bucks is it,

the pinnacle of good fortune,

then what’s your life normally like?

Annual audits? Serial jury duty?

A constant rain of stray anvils

and random pianos?

Your drains must clog on a regular basis.

(Did you disregard a ladder,

demolish a mirror?)

Next-door neighbors probably practice

chainsaw sculptures at five a.m.

Does news of two impacted

wisdom teeth make you give thanks

that it’s not as bad as the poison sumac?

(And I’d like to know if you keep

a running tally of black cats.)

It’s time to give your luck a bit of a kick.

Take that sawbuck and buy

a horseshoe. Hang it above your door,

drive the nails true.

Think windfall. Think boon.

Expect favor.

Amy MacLennan