The Guidance Counselor to the Girl

The test suggests an aptitude for solitary work.
Have you considered a career as a computer

programmer? Flower arranger? Planetarium
operator? No? What about zebrawood cultivation?

Minor-league mascotry? Those heads muffle
all voices, even your own. Column A indicates

a proclivity for nature. You may have more luck
as a bobcat than a sea turtle, a muskrat than a bobcat.

What do you mean, why? We just discussed
your inclination toward solitude! Here's the list

of promising careers: Muskrat we'll cross out.
Blue spruce on a half acre? Nest-fleeing cardinal?

Maybe? Let's mark it. Throw-pillow by the fire?
Asphalt-dinged Route 40 road sign? Lost gold

stud in the sand? Anything? We'll keep going.
Abandoned Chevy in near-mint condition? One stone

in the Grand Canyon at sunset? No, I agree, too much
responsibility. How about this—the iron clapper

in a wind chime. Well, I don't know, my dear—
I imagine you'd have to create the wind yourself.

Copyright © 2008 Catherine Pierce All rights reserved
from Crab Orchard Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission