What I Thought after Fabio Was Hit in the Face by a Bird at Busch Gardens

What I Thought After Fabio was Hit in the Face by a Bird at Busch Gardens
by Jessie Carty

I was never interested in romance novels. I wanted to be
excited by women clinging on muscular men, but I,

instead, pined for suits of armor, elven women
who worked magic and fantasies that did not involve

engagements rings. Although fantasy novels aren’t always
kind to women, they still seem more real

than mechanics who behave like princes or
soccer stars who fall for the four-eyed

chubby girl from math class. No, those guys seem unreal. A water
nymph, a dragon, a spot of magic, however, is something I at least can imagine.

Author’s Comment: In October of 2010, I had a note on my idea sheet that just said: Fabio. I have no idea why I thought, ya know? I need to write a poem about Fabio, but apparently I did. And this is what happened. By the way, he really did get hit in the face by a bird during a promotional event at Busch Gardens Tampa.

BIO: Jessie Carty’s writing has appeared in publications such as, MARGIE, decomP and Connotation Press. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks At the A & P Meridiem (Pudding House 2009) and The Wait of Atom (Folded Word 2009) as well as a full length poetry collection,Paper House (Folded Word 2010). Jessie teaches at RCCC in Concord, NC. She is also the photographer and editor for Referential Magazine. She can be found around the web, especially at http://jessiecarty.com where she blogs about everything from housework to the act of blogging itself.