i have been
known to seemingly
exaggerate
from my sphere
of hyperbolic
ramblings
from time to time

but one thing
i know for sure
is where to get
the best pancakes
in all of texas
without question

my friends have
divined the
best practice to
lure an anxious
fool from his
dark and comfy
hidden warren
is to make plans
without giving
me enough time
to work out a
proper excuse
the quicker the
event the less
thought i can
overthink into it

lunch us too
late in the day
i will have at
least four hours
sitting ready
my guts gnawing
themselves to
slivers as i
check the map
and the time in
fifty seconds
intervals until
i send the text
with insert obvious
excuse for cancelling
and i can back
out of a dinner
before the first
cup of coffee
has even brewed

but he got me
last night with a
trip to take his
wife to the airport
and how about we
grab some breakfast
and before i knew
what was happening
i had already told
the secret about the
best fucking pancakes
in all of texas

and then i saw
far too late
the trap as it
was sprung and
i hung suspended
over a pit of
sharpened stakes
carved of my
own hubris and
all i could do
was begrudgingly
congratulate him
on a game perfected

two writers and
the golden buttery
perfection of
which i have gone
so far as to
take a trip to
the kitchen to suss
out the secret of
the immaculate cakes
drenched in syrup
talking about the
craft and all of
the pitter patter
behind the scenes

i took a brief
satisfaction in
his confirmation
despite my mad
flair for hyperbole
i told him no lie

that’s the secret
i mean all of it
at the moment
it just so happens
this was easier
to prove true
i had empirical
proof this time
not just the
lowercase ravings
of a hidden fool