we were building a power plant in
st mary’s kansas in 1978
tasha
just in from wichita
had dolly platinum hair and danced with a boa constrictor
at charlie hall’s golden horseshoe

i can’t tell you why i thought taking her home
to meet my mother was a good idea
it wasn’t

mom grilled her on
quilting
canning
sewing
the conversation flatlined
after tasha told her about her job
and the snake

our third night together
tasha put carrots in the orange jello

just to see she said
it was a test she said

she packed up in 43 minutes and headed back to topeka
the counterfeit jello jiggled as the door slammed
in the early 60s my elementary teachers
didn’t pull any punches
not everybody got a blue ribbon
grade cards had checklists
mine said
does not behave well in the cafeteria

does not test well