There was once a girl I knew,
Charlotte Stoker I think it was,
And she was
The most frustrating person in school.
The perfect student,
The model scholar,
A grand example of controlling disorders
Like bulimia
And, or,
Anorexia;
Because none of the guys
Wished to,
Wanted to,
Date her.
But she could tell you,
The year Marx wrote
His Manifesto;
The difference between,
Aerobic
And
Anaerobic bacteria.
How π,
Is the number
Of the Universe.
The reason why,
Hemingway's characters
Drank too much.
She thought she was faultless,
God's Angel sent on metaphoric wings,
To rid the world of plague and hunger
With her perfect GPA.
I remember a chilled mid-December day,
When I walked down the stairs
And into the kitchen,
Where my father sat reading
The Morning Star
And drinking a cup
Of fresh brewed coffee.
Without looking at me,
He talked in his sonorous voice,
"Did you know a Charlotte Stoker?
Apparently she died last night,
In a car crash, going to
A restaurant to celebrate
Her birthday."
And I could not help but smile,
At the irony of dying on your birthday.