The Northville Review
an online literary journal
Courting in the Music Store

John Grey

Will laughter ruin
this entire conversation?
Of course it will.
So do.
I come to you
in my reasonableness.
You wear yours
skin tight.
We could be married.
You could believe in me.
But all you want to do
is purchase a box set
of Beethoven symphonies.
But if you have
the money…
well that’s what
I’m here for.
Could romance
screw up the
entire transaction?
Of course it could.
That’s why
I don’t say
I love you
but tell you
a joke instead.
You burst out
laughing.
I’m paid well
for my humor.
But it’s Beethoven
who goes home with you.

About the author

John Grey has been published recently in Agni, Worcester Review, South Carolina Review and The Pedestal, with work upcoming in Poetry East and REAL.