"Mrs. Stein," a poem by Bill Dodds. A Stephen Carpenter illustration.
Mrs. Stein asks,
"Interested
in a school visit?"

 

 

"Yes, they're low-cal."
--Your co-workers. Mid-morning Monday.
Girl Scout cookies.
Yeah, there's a tough sell.

--"Of course, you don't eat cookies
but maybe you could buy a box for a friend."

"I always wanted a hyphen between my names!"
--"What's that, Leonardo? A bigger smile?
Look, pal, you get this...or this."

--"Mona happy. Grrr. Mona mad!
Mona happy. Grrr. Mona mad!
Mona..."

Mr. Negativity.
--And then one day the board of directors
realized the company really could save
a bundle of money by simply replacing
Mr. "The Answer is No!" Evans
with a slightly different middle manager.

--"So, Cheetah, you get royalties
on all those old Tarzan flicks?"