‘J-E-L-L-Oh No,’ A Poem in Free Verse About a Bill Cosby Groupon

by Lauren Rodrigue

A Groupon to see Bill Cosby live in

Jersey City

exists today.

If you scroll down the page

it resides quietly under one for laser hair

removal and one for Singaporean

fare and one for other laser hair

removal and one for Zagat-rated

Italian food

Perhaps it is squirreled away there so far away under

photos of steaks and bikini lines

because people might be uncomfortable

buying a coupon to see

a 75-year-old comedian

tell jokes and stories

at a discounted rate

in the specifically non-glamorous

non-Manhattan city

of Jersey City.

Save 33% to see Bill Cosby tell

jokes and stories

in New Jersey as the glow

from Manhattan weakens across the river

and presses into whatever

sordid sad venue

they’ve stuck Cosby at, and

you wonder,

would you ever and I mean ever

let Groupon sell a Groupon

for tickets

to see

yourself?

Previously: ‘Broke Swan,’ a Poem in Free Verse About a Ballet Groupon

Lauren Rodrigue knows good Groupons.

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