Josh Lefkowitz
Did I Do That (O, Yes, I Did)
Picked on from the time I transferred schools,
my nipples twisted into purple nurples,
I solaced with our television’s fools,
and none more so than Friday night’s Steve Urkel.
A dweeb, a dork, a glasses-wearing nerd--
at first, a sideline role, I’ll have you know!
But ratings soared; execs sent down their word
that Steve should be the focus of the show!
Therefore did I too shift within my story,
deciding what to share and whom to tell--
using poems to spin th’mundane to glory--
presenting as less Urkel than Urquelle.
So, my darling: be my Laura, please.
Let me love you. Also: got any cheese?
Picked on from the time I transferred schools,
my nipples twisted into purple nurples,
I solaced with our television’s fools,
and none more so than Friday night’s Steve Urkel.
A dweeb, a dork, a glasses-wearing nerd--
at first, a sideline role, I’ll have you know!
But ratings soared; execs sent down their word
that Steve should be the focus of the show!
Therefore did I too shift within my story,
deciding what to share and whom to tell--
using poems to spin th’mundane to glory--
presenting as less Urkel than Urquelle.
So, my darling: be my Laura, please.
Let me love you. Also: got any cheese?
Josh Lefkowitz received an Avery Hopwood Award for Poetry at the University of Michigan. His poems and essays have been published in The New York Times, New Poetry from the Midwest 2019, Washington Square Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, Electric Literature, Rattle, and many other places. Additionally, his poems have been read aloud on All Things Considered and WNYC, and printed on the side of a bus in Nashville, Tennessee. He previously performed a pair of full-length autobiographical monologues in theaters and spaces across the country.