THE ONES FOR ME

THE ONES FOR ME
today on the radio
they took a call
from caller number seven
the DJ said to her,
“well, congratulations.
You’re caller number seven,
so you’ve won the new Brad Paisley CD.”
the woman on the phone
let out a big sigh and said,
“oh, good. It’s about time. I haven’t
won anything in a while.”
I was stopped at a red light
and I looked down at the radio
the clock said 1:17
it was the afternoon
I stared at the radio a moment
and said, “really, lady?”
then later on
it was caller number nine
who won
after being notified
he said, “well, yeah. That's fine.
It’s been a while
since I won, so I felt I was due.”
I looked down at the radio
the clock read 3:42
still the afternoon
I said, “really, man? Well, fuck you, too.”
it was like these people
expected to win
like they felt
they were supposed to win
like they deserved to win
like they were just born winners
I could picture them waking
up in the morning
sitting up in bed
rubbing their eyes
and saying, “oh, geez. I wonder what’ll I win today?”
I drove home and switched off the radio
parked my jeep
and walked down to my local dive
I ordered a $2 beer
and assumed the hunch
screw with the winners
the losers are the ones for me