Try Me, Yes, Try Me Poem by Dennis Ryan

Thursday night, February 9,2023

When you fool with me, my emotions,
it marks the beginning of the end for you.
Try me. My time wasted—it has not been
well spent. So wait. Wait and see. Attendu.
Yes, attend. Wait for me. You use my time,
waste my time as if it were nothing. Rien.
As if I have all the time in the world to spare
for you. Spare. Sparse. Thin, thinner, the crowd.
My skin and patience. Patience—what I don't
have a lot of, including for you. On ne change pas.
On ne change pas. You say you want to learn to
speak French? You say you want to live there?
Merci! You say. Well, I say this: I can redact,
retract any number of poems in a hare's breath.
Try me. Yes, try me. You won't be the first or
the last to learn things the hard way from me.