THE DRIFTER
C Ra McGuirt
when i was 18, i decided
to go live in fayetteville, arkansas
with the rest of the great writers.
i had about fifteen hundred
graduation dollars,
no idea how to balance a checkbook,
a penchant for impulse buying,
& a reluctance to acquire
an ordinary job.
after all, i was a writer.
& i wasn't in town
to wash dishes.
i ended up washing dishes
for several weeks
before deciding
to go to lakeland, florida
on an idiot whim.
when i called the boss&told him
i wasn't coming in,
he said: 'i should have known
that you were just a drifter.'
after a few more misadventures,
i went back to nashville
where i've continued
to drift
for 19 years.
