Julie

the questions
what does petulant mean
what’s a dow jones average
you feel like you’re on a tv game show
and know you’re going to blow your chance
for the grand prize
but watching her delight in words amazes you
there is enough curiosity there
to kill several thousand cats
you didn’t know about Julie
Luz says
she’s the intelligent one
and Julie sighs and says
I am pretty smart for a fourteen year old
Zaida worries about her
that she’s learning too much too soon
and tells you to watch what you fill her head with
and you have to look away
before you start babbling
the past the present the future
will all come streaming out
a leak in the dam
the volcano erupting
the madman on the loose
so you play with your tie
and think the boys her own age must be in total confusion
especially when she destroys them
with a word a look a smile
there are times even you wonder
if perhaps she isn’t really thirty
and you shake your head as she changes the radio station to XLO
and explains to Steve who objects
that it’s the balance of nature
yin and yang at work
and she dances in the aisles
while Steve looks at you and says
who’s yin and yang anyway
and what do they have to do with disco