Understudy

This lady’s been on here about a month
playing Alexis. The real Alexis left
to have a baby, or maybe rehab, I forget
but think I read it in Soap Opera Digest.

Funny how the other actors act
like she’s just the exact same woman
she’s always been, even though her hair
is so much longer, and those collars just aren’t right.

Be nice to have an understudy, you know?
A substitute to get the door whenever
bad news knocks, hospital visits
and late-night calls from the cops, all the lawyers—

or passing your ex-husband in the street
dressed in silk with those shoulder pads—
send her to the grocery! let her be
the one who puts on all these pounds I’ve gained,

let her be the one who drives to town
every afternoon to pick-up goddamn George,
or let her try and take these kids for just
one lousy hour, and let me watch my stories.

T.B. Rudy