Meaningful Poem

June 11
David Lehman

It's my birthday I've got an empty

stomach and the desire to be

lazy in the hammock and maybe

go for a cool swim on a hot day

with the trombone in Sinatra's

"I've Got You Under My Skin"

in my head and then to break for

lunch a corned-beef sandwich and Pepsi

with plenty of ice cubes unlike France

where they put one measly ice cube

in your expensive Coke and when

you ask for more they argue with

you they say this way you get more

Coke for the money showing they

completely misunderstand the nature of

American soft drinks which are an

excuse for ice cubes still I wouldn't

mind being there for a couple o

fdays Philip Larkin's attitude

toward China comes to mind when

asked if he'd like to go there he said

yes if he could return the same day

I like this poem because June 11 is my mom's birthday. She loves relaxing outside on her birthday and swimming in the river. June 11, 1958