it’s amazing what a nickel can buy

two Hubba-Bubbas or one Bubblicious can make bubbles bigger than my head

or a dime plus a wet willy can buy the smell of a newly minted Penny Hardaway card –

it’s clear Jefferson’s and FDR’s aren’t the only payments i accept

“don’t tell mom” my silence can also be bought by favors like “no more classical” “turn the radio to magic 98.3” “is that delilah? does she know what’s it like in nyc?” “1-877-Kars 4 Kids dad, can i instead exchange a kid for a car?”

how miraculous yesterday’s simplicity– ice cream trucks vocab quizzes car rides home.

i suppose nothing can truly buy those back.

what remains is to beat on boats against the current save i let go and am borne back ceaselessly into the past.1

  1. from The Great Gatsby ↩