A. McHugh

To The New Year

Save me from the men down here,
at least the ones in Mickey Finn's.
Chugging pints of cheap-ass beer
is only one of their many sins.

Save me from middle management,
from buying a holster for my phone.
While it might help me pay my rent,
I think I'll make it on my own.

Save me from doctors checking up:
their stethoscopes, their reflex test.
From peeing in a plastic cup.
The creepy breast exam. The rest.

In short: Just end how you began,
unless you've got a better plan.

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A. McHugh has been educated at The Ohio State University, Boston University and, most recently, at the University of Arkansas, where she is currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing; additionally, she is a co-editor of Linebreak. Her poetry has appeared in Unsplendid and Crab Orchard Review.