Easy Lai*
He hoped that he might
score some quick delight
today,
but mere appetite
does not earn the right
to play.
Is she now contrite
for his hard-up plight?
No way.
*A lai is a French poetic form: nine lines, rhymed aabaabaab,
with a lines of five syllables and b lines of two syllables.
Susan McLean, a retired English professor from Southwest Minnesota State University, is the author of two poetry books: The Best Disguise and The Whetstone Misses the Knife. A third book, Daylight Losing Time, is forthcoming from Able Muse Press.