Cherries

I was waiting to try out one of my inventions

from the flattop garage roof — parachutes this time — 

when I tasted a black cherry from the next yard, wondering even at that age

who had prior rights and what was constitutional

so instead of  jumping I wrote a brief brief

called Yaakov vs. the Tree Trunk

where everyone laughed herself crazy

at Marlboro vs. Madison

or Red Stain vs. the State of New Jersey

so bless me you fools

for aren’t you mortals?

And don’t you bend your body down

over the water to taste the ice?

And who, in your family,

even ever just thought of

swallowing a goldfish from the bowl,

say, picking up its slippery body,

bending your neck back and gulping it down

even before they entered law school?