Jason Crane

POEM: expenses

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/ / /

expenses

$1.00 for the three congueros
          on the D train
          black men with beautiful braids
          down their backs
          too meticulous to be dreadlocks

$5.00 for queso made from yeast
          bought from a friendly former hippie
          in a Bushwick bar
          where a bomb would have
          devoured all the vegans

$1.00 for a bottle of water
          on the subway platform
          at Columbus Circle
          to wash down the pills
          that make the sun shine
          ”better living through chemistry”

$10.40 for an everything bagel with
          eggs and cheddar
          and a plain bagel with
          tofu cream cheese
          eaten with my lover
          on a bench in Prospect Park

$104.00 for a MetroCard
          to let me move between boroughs
          for a month
          until it runs out when I’m broke
          and on the way
          to somewhere important

$3.87 for yet another bagel
          and a strawberry iced tea
          before the sun came up
          in Sunset Park
          where I wouldn’t have been
          but for her

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