Dilemma
A man and a boat –
no –
a dog and a cabbage,
and somehow a goat,
all have to cross the river.
Oh, it’s so complicated.
And furthermore, his wife
is sleeping with his brother
who paid for the dog
and the goat for the wife
which leaves him with the cabbage.
So he’s thinking
as he gets to the river…
they don’t know I know.
I’ll eat the cabbage, sink the boat,
shoot the dog and fuck the goat.
That should do it.
If not,
at least they’re dogless,
the godless bunch
and boatless to boot
and I will have had my cabbage
and her goat too.
About the author
T.L. Murphy is a retired carpenter, a published poet, and an avid skier. He grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.A. and emigrated to Canada in 1978. He lives in Canmore, Alberta, Canada, on the east side of the Canadian Rocky Mountains about 20 miles from the Continental Divide. He is a performance poet and has shared the stage with many prominent Canadian poets and was recently appointed Poet Laureate of Canmore, a position he will hold for one year. His poems, fiction and non-fiction have appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies and have been translated into Greek and Chinese.
Website: https://tlmurphypoetry.wordpress.com/
Other work by T.L. Murphy published to Flashes:
Interview with T.L. Murphy
The Smell of Burning Bling
Peace, Brother
Train Story
The Cook
Subtle Moves
