Tourist Trap

My son has learned early
How to stop traffic on busy streets,
How a flash of the deep baby blues,
The dimpled cheek and pink gums
Will flush admirers to his feet.

What beautiful eyes he has, they say
What a smart boy, see how he laughs.

But I know why he laughs. I do!
I'm onto his precious little game.
It's all in the genes, and he is my son.

It's the same game I played
When I snagged seven sisters, my mother,
And trapped the girlfriends I'd found.
The game that worked so well
When I flagged his mother down.

(1991)

Jeffrey Spahr-Summers