Well prior to the dark ages
coming out of caves
their clubs over their shoulder
that would someday become
drinking places
all muscles hormone men
fought over what natural history would say
was survival over bears but really
90% of times was artificial extinction
due to men clubbing to death themselves
and so one day
Jack brought out his pipe
and vaped a little
longer than usual
and joked about the past
but the pact we made
was like a broken record
like, we bet on that deal!
“but dude, M. Ali’s dead!”
and uh, Oh.., dude.. Right!
And that is how
Not knowing men of age
I lost the bet.
VW Barrett is a graduate of the MFA program in Creative Writing at the University of Arizona. He has taught English for Fort Hays State University and the University of Wisconsin Colleges. Previously his poetry has appeared in Adelaide Literary Magazine. Currently this summer of ’24 he is teaching in Boston.