James B. Nicola
Demonstration
Last night we didn’t hear the girl who screamed
all night. Hank Junior told us when he came
home, finally, tonight. To us it seemed
incredible, but he showed us her name
in the Gazette, said she was in his class,
that he was there. I asked What for? – You fool,
he screeched, and slammed out. What a pretty pass.
The time had come to bring up boarding school,
I thought, with Hank Senior. I did, in bed.
He punched his pillow three times with his head
and growled, Fine, it’s about time he was gone,
then turned and started snoring. I said Right,
that’s settled. But I did not sleep all night.
This morning we must talk about the lawn.
all night. Hank Junior told us when he came
home, finally, tonight. To us it seemed
incredible, but he showed us her name
in the Gazette, said she was in his class,
that he was there. I asked What for? – You fool,
he screeched, and slammed out. What a pretty pass.
The time had come to bring up boarding school,
I thought, with Hank Senior. I did, in bed.
He punched his pillow three times with his head
and growled, Fine, it’s about time he was gone,
then turned and started snoring. I said Right,
that’s settled. But I did not sleep all night.
This morning we must talk about the lawn.
James B. Nicola’s poetry has garnered two Willow Review awards, a Dana Literary award, eight Pushcart nominations, and one Best of the Net nom. His full-length collections include Manhattan Plaza (2014), Stage to Page: Poems from the Theater (2016), Wind in the Cave (2017), Out of Nothing: Poems of Art and Artists (2018), Quickening: Poems from Before and Beyond (2019), and Fires of Heaven: Poems of Faith and Sense (2021). A Yale grad and a returning contributor, he also has enjoyed a career as a stage director, culminating in the nonfiction book Playing the Audience: The Practical Guide to Live Performance, which won a Choice award. Facebook, LinkedIn, and website at: sites.google.com/view/james-b-nicola.