beaver
project
by Hezekiah Allen
Taylor
he titled it to titillate
in block, bold letters
now he plots it out from above
on graph paper
with a quarter-inch scale
she's represented by
a perfect circle--even and balanced
(he worked with a protractor)
he's the triangle--a Pythagorean quandary--
and all the squares are hurdles
monoliths of socio-cultural obstacles
keeping him virginal, pristine
she's every boy's fantasy fuck:
upper-class cheerleader with good teeth
and blonde hair, tight ass and perky tits--
her B- average being neither here nor there
and she has goals, she said to a friend once
within earshot of him: college, children,
middle class tract home with a husband
to mow the weeds and bring in the money
he just hopes he can get that job
at Conoco once he squeaks by to graduation
he works so well with his hands
he wants to tell her that
make it sound naughty
and he knows her heart isn't exactly pure
even if her reputation is a spit-polished production
he's seen her
he saw her that Saturday
now almost two months ago
in the backseat of Brandon Miller's bronco
with rough hands cupping her breasts
like the bra tossed haphazard onto the dash
he draws another square
labels it "B.M."
places it in the second line
between them
he stares at the separate pieces
a battleground
her circle on the left
his triangle on the right
two firm and solid lines
of quarter-inch graph squares
bisecting them
like newly-kinged checkers--
able to freely move and encompass
he contemplates his plot again
spurred on by tinted flashbacks
(he could see the dark triangle
of his goal behind shut eyelids)
at an impasse, he folds up the map
like a letter bomb, slips it into a #10 envelope
to use as a bookmark
he goes back to reading
How to Find and Fascinate a Mistress
(which he kept hidden behind his fish tank,
pressed flat between the false back of the glass
and the cool particle board of his dresser)
if only he were in love
she might be worth the effort
Francine's Version
-- Hezekiah's Version -- Inspiration
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