Midsummer Dream House

 

THE LESSON

Years ago when I was a student at City College
of San Francisco I had this photography teacher
who confessed to me that he was married for three weeks:

“We met at a party. Both of us were drunk. Went home
together that night and the next day decided to go to Las Vegas
and get married. Things went fairly well the first week.
Less so the second week. And by the third week we were
at each other’s throats. It’s lucky one of us didn’t kill the other!”

“What did you learn from the experience?” I asked him and he replied,
“Don’t drink and get married! That’s mainly what I learned.”

 

SEEMINGLY IN COMPLETE AGREEMENT

Accidentally giving the woman an extra twenty
for my groceries at the checkout counter, she hands
it back and says, “You obviously didn’t mean to give me
this extra 20!”

“Wow! an honest woman!” I respond. “You must have
serious problems getting by in a world like this. I guess
you’ll just have to carry on as best you can!”

Smiling at what I said, she replies, “You got it!
That’s always been my problem. . . staying on the straight
and narrow. I guess it’s too late to change now!”

Smiling back, I answer, “I certainly understand!
I’ve always stayed on the straight and narrow as well.
Hopefully, we’ll both be rewarded in the afterlife!”

To which she nods, seemingly in complete agreement.

 

Poetry by Jeffrey Zable

 

 

Jeffrey Zable is a teacher, conga drummer/percussionist who plays for dance classes and rumbas around the San Francisco Bay Area, and a writer of poetry, flash-fiction, and non-fiction. He’s published five chapbooks and his writing has appeared in hundreds of literary magazines and anthologies, more recently in Chewers & Masticadores, Linked Verse, Ranger, Cacti Fur, Uppagus, and many others.