a hot property: by Ronald Wallace

I am not. I am
an also-ran,
a bridesmaid, a finalist,
a second-best bed. I am
the one they could just
as easily have given it to
but didn't.
I'm a near miss, a close second,
an understudy, a runner-up.
I'm the one who was just
edged, shaded, bested, nosed out.
I made the final cut,
the short list,
the long deliberation.
I'm good, very good,
but I'm not good enough.
I'm an alternate, a backup,
a very close decision,
a red ribbon, a handshake,
a glowing commendation.
You don't know me.
I've a dozen names,
all honorably mentioned.
I could be anybody./

This verse is from Wallace's book of poems titled Long for This World. A text of son Leland's from his curriculum as a sophomore at the Univ. of WI Madison. Wallace lectured Lee's class as the Felix Pollak Professor of Poetry at the university. The book was given to me by Lee for Christmas.