Steve Meador is the author of Throwing Percy from the Cherry Tree, a poetry book that was an entrant for a National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. He is widely published in online and print journals. He has been a real estate broker since the early 1980s and currently lives and practices in the Tampa, FL, area.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011


 R     O     G     I     E     R

He chalked big, block letters
on the board, then underlined.
That is my name. It is not Roger.
It is not Rodge  e  er.
It is not Rodge  ear.
It is Rowjhay. It is French.
Can you all say genre?
               Good.
Again.
               The same G sound
is found in my name. Rowjhay.
Of course, you will preface it
with Mister. As I shall preface
the surname of the gentlemen
in this class. Each of our ladies
shall be Miss.
He enunciated homeroom roll call:
Mr. Agnew
Mr. Collins
Miss Gabel
each answered or grunted Here
until he reached
Mr. Roteks
to which Peter responded
Yeah,
rhymes with Kotex.

Perhaps you will be able to put
pen to that pad, delight us
with a Roteks Kotex poem
by the end of this week.

Touche, Rogier

1 comment:

  1. I
    in the last row
    by the windows

    cynical of anything
    written
    in chalk.

    ReplyDelete