The Only Way This Poem Will Fly

The Only Way This Poem Will Fly
by Michael Ashley
the difference
between today
& a year ago
is that today
I’ve got balls
back then
I’d have bottled it
& pushed on
with the poem
about a man
addicted
to gambling
I’d have twisted
the clumsy
analogy
of a coin slot
& a vagina
made him stroke
those metal lips
until she came
a machine-gun
shower of coins
all over his fingers
but today
when I feel
it isn’t gelling
I take the page
fold
press
turn
fold again
& make
a paper plane