David Radavich

IN THE MEN'S CATALOGUES

These guys always
look so good.

Just the right
amount of beard,
light perfect
from an angle
that just kisses the face.

Nary a wrinkle
in the shirt,
the kinked arm,

or a sweat stain
along the back
of the neck
from real living.

And relaxed as hell,
beer maybe just
off camera,
no job in sight
and every garment

fitting like
an oh-so-good lover.

When I call up
they never have my size,
or it's out of stock.

Real men aren't
built the way you are

or they go to
Goodwill and hope
for the best.

Maybe you should try
another vendor,
an alternate website

where creatures
of your kind hang out
their long divisions
and DNA mathematics,

where no one holding
a camera will ever
frame or Photoshop

or even sing you
into buying
what you already are.

David Radavich's recent poetry collections are America Bound: An Epic for Our Time (2007), Canonicals: Love's Hours (2009), and Middle-East Mezze (2011). His plays have been performed across the U.S., including six Off-Off-Broadway, and in Europe. He is newly elected president of the North Carolina Poetry Society. His latest book is The Countries We Live In (2014).