WHAT'S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN, COURTNEY?

She slides out of a launderette.
No, wait. She struts out of a café.

Check that. She stumbles out of a bus.
Or not. She steps out of a bank.

Too dull. She stirs out of a dream.
That sucks. She slips out of a clinic.

The washer is old; the smoke is thick.
The transit is slow; the credit is wrecked.
The fear is real; the doctor is sick

Her clothes are stained; her coffee is cold.
Her transfer is gone; her money is low.
Her mind is made up; her pills do not work.

JON PAUL FIORENTINO is a writer and editor. His most recent book of poetry is The Theory of the Loser Class (Coach House Books, 2006). He is the author of the poetry book Hello Serotonin Asthmatica (Insomniac Press, 2005). His most recent editorial projects are the anthologies Career Suicide! Contemporary Literary Humour (DC Books, 2003) and Post-Prairie - a collaborative effort with Robert Kroetsch, (Talonbooks, 2005). He lives in Montreal where he teaches writing at Concordia University and is the Editor-in-Chief of Matrix magazine. (Coach House Books, 2004) and the humour book I didn't cut it off. The girl sent it that way.