WHAT TO STEAL FROM WALLY by Shay Lessman

Wally’s way of ruffling feathers by tussling hair
and giving kids the business

Wally’s weathered sweaters
and wicked advice

Wally’s brown bag school lunches
and fifteen cents for the soda shop

Wally’s athletic skills
and his ability to skunk other schools

Wally’s confident walk
and his flawless fibs

Wally’s way with women
and how he puts his arm around them at the drive-in theater

Wally’s way of shining apple skins on his starched shirts
and how he holds the ice box door open and lets all the cold air out

Wally’s way of sitting spine-straight at the shared secretary
and the way he combs his hair at the hung mirror

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Shay Lessman is a poet from the Northwest corner of Illinois. He lives on a five-acre farm with his wife, Michelle, and numerous farm animals. He earned his MFA in poetry from Columbia College Chicago and currently is looking to publish a book-length collection of poems titled Syndication about a man's relationship with television, as well as a chapbook-length collection titled The Birds and The Bees. His work has most recently appeared in Columbia Poetry Review, Ophelia Street, The Legendary, and The GC Advocate.