ON A DIME

my jeep turned over
on the first try
and later that morning
an email came in
from a small literary mag
saying they wanted
to publish
one of my poems

what a day
it was shaping up to be!

I didn’t call anyone to brag
not even to tell
it’s important
at times
to keep things to yourself
to suck up all the enjoyment
you can
before the world
gets its rotten teeth clamped around it
and breathes its bad breath
onto your little windfall

I went to a house
to take a dog out for a walk
because that’s how I make my money
to pay the bar tabs
and the bills

the dog had shit
all over the carpeted stairs
diarrhea galore

after cleaning it up
as best I could

I drove to a few more houses
walked a few more dogs
called it a day

then, on the way home
a man in a big, red pickup truck
rear-ended me
not bad
but bad enough

he wasn’t such a terrible fellow
he had insurance
and after the policeman arrived
twenty five minutes later
we went our separate ways

he, back to his life
with his children and his wife

me, back to my third floor room
with my beer fridge
and myself

luck can turn on a dime
picked out of a beggar’s hand
of spare change

I’ll try and remember that
next time I throw my two cents
down the storm drain