Not Another Pizza Poem by Ted Sheridan

She was to come to our house
around five pm to have dinner with us
She had specifically requested
her Mother's family recipe for pepper steak
I had worked up a major appetite
over the past several days of fasting on loneliness
and was very hungry to see her sweet precious face
with those big green eyes and beautiful little lips
An angel kissed her on the day she was born
and it was then I knew she was to be our only child
God doesn't bless people like me that often....
And when he does....you know it.
I thought....
So what? Even if she is bringing her new boyfriend
like all the others before him
I intend to outlive him too
And if I don't I'll pay someone to rattle the chains...
and haunt his tattooed body...pierced ass out of her life....
Rushing home and trying not to curse at the traffic
(God and my wife discourage me of it)
I swung into the driveway....
Only my wife's car was there.....
I was early.....
Walking in the house my wife shouted
overtop of the parrot's squawking
'You missed her Honey, she just left
I hope you're hungry....she took your dinner
and I'm in the mood for a pizza'
Daughters....
They can kill you with a smile
or starve you to death without one......


(2007)