Archives :: Bill Roberts

Second Helpings

Appeared in the 1999-2004 issue.

There for a long while, must have been
Three or four months, we were running
More vacancies than rented rooms.

I noticed it because there was less foot
Traffic on the stairs by my room and
Fewer second helpings at dinner.

Mother asked for our help one
Night at the dinner table, and I suggested
Fried chicken on Fridays as well as Sundays.

After she grazed my head with a wooden
Spoon, Mother came to her senses and said
That's it -- rent would include free fried

Chicken for roomers every Friday night.
Well, Mother advertised in the newspaper,
And we had to turn away dozens of salivators.

Then after a while, we had to drop Fried
Chicken Fridays: Mother hadn't budgeted
For all the roomers demanding seconds.

View bio information and additional poems published in Half Drunk Muse on the author's main archive page.