poem of the day 07.15.13

play money

the little girl

sitting opposite me on the bus

is playing retail store with a real five dollar bill

that her mother gave her

so that the child won’t be bored

while mommy texts and plays games

on her cell phone

the little girl is cute, i guess

the way she pretends to pay for things

from the old bat sitting next to me

before snatching the money back from air

to do it over and over again

it proves that if nothing else

this kid has some semblance of an imagination

which is more than can be said for her mother

she’s so cute

the old bat sitting next to me keeps saying

snatching at the money and cackling

but the old bat looks whacked

keeps singing church hymns

and she’s carrying a garbage bag full of brown rags

so i don’t know what to think

i don’t think i’d let my kid play with her

maybe i’d like to have that five dollar bill to play with

or i think i’d like to do something untoward

like snatch that five dollar bill from that little cutie’s hand

right when the bus stops

and then hop off and book it until i’m out of sight

that would be something

maybe that would show the little girl

that money isn’t the thing to be played with

or maybe that would show her mother

to pay more attention to her kid

instead of pounding away inanities on the internet

or maybe my thievery would even show

the old bat how fleeting beauty really is

how anyone can take something lovely

and turn it ugly in a matter of seconds

but i think i’ll keep this moment somewhere

in the back of my head

i’ll use it on payday

when i have my own play money to mess around with

a few tens and twenties

that i’ll take to the bar or liquor store

and maybe i’ll pull a couple bills back from the bartender

when he hands me my pint

or snatch my twenty back after the liquor store man

hands me my bag of whiskey and wine

life like an impish little child

see if they get the innocent humor

in all of this.