Random Acts of Poetry

How the Rumor Started

If you’re having lunch with the gang
best bring something juicy
some gossip to spread
about the uninvited, lest
the chatter be about you.
The pressure is on
to entertain and defend,
to choose the news
without regard for the truth
and keep the focus on them.
But that fateful day
I was tired and hungry
grasping at breadsticks
the water left me wanting
I was fading into obscurity
sinking under the table
I wanted attention paid -
a meager salary, nothing grand
just a shocked look on a face
a wave of an incredulous hand.
Ignored amidst the clicking
of veneers and caps.
the clucking of tongues
and faces aghast,
I struggled to find a tidbit to share
someone to care
but to the gang I seemed
invisible, absentee
and in my haste to please
I started a rumor about me.



Prize Prompt:
The thing that started the rumor.