jimmy could do it

can you zip
me up she asks,

turning around
in her bold red dress
for me
to zip, then clasp
the tiniest piece of metal
and hook
I've ever seen.
my fingers are too large
I tell her.
do you have some duct
tape, or a safety pin?
oh my, she says.
really?
you can't clasp that hook?
my old boyfriend
had no problem
with it at all.
you mean jimmy?
I ask her, still fiddling
with the tiny
hook, wiping my eyes
trying to unblur
and focus them.
james, she says. I never
called him jimmy.
whatever, I tell
her, wetting my fingers,
and pinching
blindly at the hook,
determined 

to be a better man
than jimmy ever was.