Incorrigible
By Anselm Brocki

In these unsettled times
of explosive genetic
discovery and change
if coming upon a clone
of me at some crowded
bakery that serves
morning coffee, I greatly
fear, much to my shame,
that instead of having
the greatest heart-to-heart
talk of my life about what
fakes we are at home,
parties, and committee
meetings, I might treat
him like any other person
who asked with those
same intense blue eyes
and subdued modesty
to share my filigree iron-
legged, glass-topped
table: say yes, of course
but be stand-offish
at first and slowly start
to impress him in subtle
ways with office stories
revealing how perceptive
I am and how much
I have accomplished
all by myself in this life.