Double Portion
I meet a tall imposing figure
dressed in red
known in the field
(we have met once before
under awkward circumstances
as I munched the double portion
she’d been compelled to abandon)
everybody knows her
her opinion must have weight
we exchange a cheery hello
after eying one another twice
across the conference hall
Way back in the beginning
in a college dining commons
I met an unimpressive girl
whom it seemed I had supplanted
(I’d seen her once before
as she exited his off campus rooms
with an armful of books
just as I arrived)
she warned me now
that I would suffer
down the line
as she had suffered
or did she merely eye me briefly
from across the dining commons
chuckling to her new boyfriend
before she took a seat
and ate her lunch
