BREATH OF A SALESMAN
by Robert Chancey
PART I
Stop popping mints
And Viagra
Do not call me
Sweetheart
Or honey
You have pestered me
For too long
Your need
For affection
Is transparent
And you are
A married man
PART II
You do not know
The difference
Between love
And Stockholm Syndrome
Leave me
At the wine bar
With my half bottle
Of Shafer Merlot
My poetry
And my memories
Of better men
PART III
Go sit
With your boorish cronies
In the leather booth
Regale them
With your stale jokes
And dazzle them
With your hair weave
Your fake charisma
And your tall tales
Of conquest
And satisfaction
PART IV
Bring no more
Of your sycophants
To convince me
What a swell guy
You are
Your closeted cousin
Who resembles
The pilot
My father now lives with
Your drunken frat brother
Whose resume
Stinks of nepotism
And rape
Your uncle
Who would violate
My younger sister
On prom night
Your Aunt Lydia
Who stands
At the altar
And judges everyone
For your sins
Your Aspergers nephew
Who pleasures himself
To Ayn Rand novels
And your business partners
Who would swindle
Diabetic seniors
Out of their insulin
PART V
These are not
Character witnesses
They are co-conspirators
In a vast plundering
Of the common good
I do not know
Any judges
Who will sentence
The whole wretched lot
Of you
But I am connected
To a loose network
Of sane people
Who are voting
On November 6
PART VI
We will say
NO
To your fast food morals
Your carbon fuel flatulence
Your trophy wife
Your casual racism
Your bullying
Your desire
To screw
All women under 30
And all men
Who work stoop-shouldered
And without health care
To ensure
The rich
Stay fat
And happy
In a godless land
Of drunken believers
Robert Chancey
Robert Chancey is a full-time waiter who writes poetry in his off hours. His Facebook page Words on Fire features over 200 of his brilliant and very popular poems from 2017 and 2018. You can also watch over two dozen videos of his poetry readings on his Words on Fire Facebook page.
Robert Chancey wearing his paisley tie for “Eat the Rich”
His most popular poem is “Eat the Rich” which is a fictional imagining of a waiter in a restaurant reciting the specials to Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “Eat The Rich” was posted on June 24, 2018, and it has been read by 125,000 people!!! It is a fabulous menu of the rich contributions hard-working and talented immigrants make to America.
Anne Caroline Drake 