Hello readers! Every week, BOA's staff and interns share a special poem from our over 300 collections of poetry. This week's poem is from Birth Marks by Jim Daniels.

Birth Marks

She was stymied by pizza, but not
by ice cream. She ordered vanilla
for its sound. She reigned as Queen
of the Isle of You Decide.

He had the patience of a splinter
working its way to the surface
and the business sense
of a herd of cattle.

She used her checkbook
to prop up every minor purchase.
He used cash for the benefit
of its traceless disappearance.

In short, he was a bad magician
and she the nervous assistant,
a match manufactured in a damp swamp.

Yet they set off enough sparks
to produce me out of a hat,
dazed by their applause.

Technically, I can’t remember
that far back, but I can make up
a few things, given the lack
of memory and receipts.