THE POET AFTER REWATCHING BACK TO THE FUTURE AS AN ADULT IN HIS THIRTIES / STEPHEN BRISEÑO

If only a wealthy, wispy-haired genius

had taken me under his wing

in my teenage years, then I’d have a lot

more to say to people at dinner parties.

Things like:

Have you ever worn

a radiation suit?

Sweet Jesus, are they muggy!

or

If you’re soldering time circuits, you’re gonna need

some nimble fingers. Let me tell you.

Instead I just mumble on

about basketball games I haven’t watched,

teams I don’t root for, or Trump.

I’m pretty positive, though, that if this local

mad scientist took a shot

at a friendship with me today,

he’d see real quick that I have no

long-buried yearnings for adventure,

no blind devotion

to his work or willingness to answer

midnight phone calls for clandestine

mall meetups so I can film his experiments

and post them on Youtube.

A man has to sleep after all.

Nah, I’d probably lecture

him about being irresponsible

with his money and his time.

How he must build and maintain

the trust of the community.

Create a positive public persona

and whatnot.

I’d politely decline his offer:

No, I’m fine. I already have enough

crazy in my life, thank you.

He’d stare at me with a confused expression

before leaving, his shock white poof of hair bouncing

as he begins his search for a younger me,

someone he could dream with.

Stephen Briseño graduated from Sam Houston State University with a degree in English and Secondary Education. His work is forthcoming in Mentor Mixtapes, and he lives in San Antonio, TX with his wife and daughter. Follow him on Twitter: @stephen_briseno