The Truth
By Ross Gay
Because he was 38, because this
was his second job, because
he had two daughters, because his hands
looked like my father's, because at 7
he would walk to the furniture warehouse,
unload trucks 'til 3 AM, because I
was fourteen and training him, because he made
$3.75 an hour, because he had a wife
to look in the face, because
he acted like he respected me,
because he was sick and would not call out
I didn't blink when the water
dropped from his nose
into the onion's perfectly circular
mouth on the Whopper Jr.
I coached him through preparing.
I did not blink.
Tell me this didn't happen.
I dare you.
Copyright Credit: Ross Gay, "The Truth" from Against Which. Copyright © 2006 by Ross Gay. Reprinted by permission of CavanKerry Press Ltd., cavankerrypress.org.
Source: Against Which (CavanKerry Press Ltd, 2010)