Tonight's Poet Corner: The Bigger Star

The Bigger Star
by Belinda Roddie

She could hit more home runs than he could,
drink more beer in one sitting than he
could guzzle, and woo more girls than
he could ever dream of courting in his
lifetime, let alone a handful of years
before the thirtieth one kicked him, hard,
in the shins. She was more successful,
more stable, and more capable than
he was, but she never rubbed it in. Instead,
she bought his pills for him, cooked his meals
for him, and hugged him every night before
he went to his job at the gas station, making
an array of people smile beneath the smell
of petroleum, hot summer, and stars.