Joshua McKinney

A Guy Thing

Somehow, at the party, the subject of poetry comes up. “’There once was a man from Nantucket’. . .” the blond begins. “That’s a great one,” I say. “That’s all I know of it,” she admits. I recite it for her. “My, my,” she says, inching away. “I had no idea.” She seems serious, but I find it hard to believe. I can’t remember not knowing the one about the man whose dick was so long he could . . . well, I’m sure you know it. It delighted us boys in third grade, huddled around the incinerator at recess, while the girls galloped across the playground pretending to be ponies.

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Joshua McKinney's most recent book of poetry, The Novice Mourner, was the recipient of the Dorothy Brunsman Poetry Prize. His work has appeared in such journals as American Letters & Commentary, Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, Kenyon Review, and Ploughshares. He teaches literature and creative writing at California State University, Sacramento.