A POEM - THE PEARLS WON'T FILL MY STOMACH

THE PEARLS WOULDN’T FILL MY STOMACH
I was sitting at their kitchen table.
They were leaving for their wedding,
A two week eloping jaunt up to Bali.
I would be watching over their house,
Feeding their dog, that sort of thing.
Before leaving the man, an old sea captain,
Brought out his soon to be wife’s jewelry box.
He opened it up and held this pearl necklace
In front of my face.
“hold this.”
I reached out and held it.
“oh, that’s heavy.”
“that’s two hundred and fifty thousand dollars,”
He said.
I nearly puked on their kitchen table.
I had maybe fifty bucks in my bank account,
Fifty in my wallet,
And a few bucks in change in pants’ pockets.
“oh, and look at this one,” he said,
Opening another little case.
“black pearls?”
“yeah, these are nice, huh?”
I wondered what the hell was up,
Why he was showing those to me.
After exhibiting a few more,
He shut the jewelry box and said,
“these are coming with us.”
I sat their at the table,
Nodding and waiting for them to leave.
I didn’t give a damn about their jewelry.
I wouldn’t have stolen it, anyway.
I was just interested as to what was in the pantry,
Because I was very hungry.
And then maybe I’d raid the liquor cabinet.
That was about it.