borrowed not stolen

the characteristics of a grown-up young man include
independence, dependability, responsibility,
accountability, ability-to-love, ability-to-be-loved,
ability to both accept and give criticism graciously,
and, certainly, the successful
regulation of the frequency of his
masturbatory behavior.
of course he masturbates occasionally,
but never more than twice a day, and, when
the time arrives for him to
turn out the lights and
go to bed, he falls
asleep at once, and
dreams of garlic, but not
too much, sprinkled
skillfully and judiciously over
the pizza before it's pushed
deep into the bowels of the
red-hot oven.

--Carl Miller Daniels (This poem appeared in Underground Voices, January 2011.)