the N-word, the R-word
and now the P-word too
jeanine is up in arms
because the teenage boys
are using the P-word
they’re over there calling each other
the P-word, she says
no one knows what in the hell
jeanine is talking about at first
she rolls her eyes
you know,
she says
the words for a woman’s…
aaaaahhhhh, we all collectively say
last week
some drunk called jeanine
the C-word
which is another word for a woman’s…
…anyway,
HR had to talk her off a ledge
over that one
jeanine is always worried
about the words that teenage boys use
she’s always yelling at them about words
the N-word, the R-word
and now the P-word too
the teenage boys
also call jeanine the C-word
but usually
when she walks away from them
well,
isn’t anyone going to do anything
about this?
jeanine asks
uuuuummmmmm, we all collectively say
jeanine throws up her hands
sighs
and walks out of the room
back into the lion’s den
of consonants and vowels
the office is quiet for a moment
then someone from the back of it says
god,
that jeanine
can be such a B-word
sometimes.
John Grochalski is the author of five poetry collections, three novels, and the novella Wolves of Berlin Play Amateur Night at the Flute and Fiddle Pub (Alien Buddha Press 2024). He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
