Serving House: A Journal of Literary Arts
SHJ
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Poem
SHJ Issue 15
Fall 2016

Bob

by Marcia LeBeau

I love my name. Simple, just the way I like things. Same backward
and forward. Looks nice printed on a gas station uniform or a legal
pad. Never showed up either place, but a guy can have his fantasies,
right? My Dad was Robert, and I’m Bob, and if I ever have a son,
I’ll call him Bobby. But I’m shooting blanks, so that won’t happen
anytime soon. I bet this Bobby would be on the high school diving team.
I can hear them over the loudspeaker: Bobby Wilcox, Jr. will now attempt
a reverse 2½ somersault in the pike position, Level of Difficulty 7.5.
Strange
how I can see that all so clearly, probably because my parents named me Bob.


SHJ Issue 15
Fall 2016

Marcia LeBeau’s

writing has been published in decomP magazinE, Moon City Review, Rattle, SLANT, Pennsylvania English, and others. She holds an MFA in poetry from the Vermont College of Fine Arts’ creative writing program and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Marcia lives in South Orange, New Jersey.

www.marcialebeau.com

“...we have been born here to witness and celebrate. We wonder at our purpose for living. Our purpose
is to perceive the fantastic. Why have a universe if there is no audience?” — Ray Bradbury