People Are Pocket Change (2025) — New Poems

A purchased party,
 transactional at its finest.
 Some are worth cents,
 others, crisp, uncreased dollars.
 A purchased party,
 disputable, disposable—
 tossed like loose change
 yet clutched like a life saver.
 A purchased party,
 transactional at its finest.
 Just pray they don’t return in checks,
 some bounce, some settle,
 some beg for the grace of a second balance.
 Ya know—get even? Be even?
 The disputes pile up,
 ledger lines blur,
 and I’m left filed away—
 just cents scattered on the floor.