Out of Line

How much time
do you spend
competing in those
Pageants
you insist on staging,

where you line yourself up
with family, friends, neighbors
and fret that
you’ll never even be
a Finalist,
let alone a Runner-Up?
Winning is
out of the question.

In your mind
you lose
in every category.

Next time consider
calling that whole thing off.

Instead,
write a book of
love poems,
including a couple
to yourself.
Invite your
family, friends, neighbors
to do the same.

Then let’s have
a book exchange.