Forty-Five-Year-Old Man on Total Disability

Forty-Five-Year-Old Man On Total Disability

Some of the bored and
nosy tenants
at Golden Age Gardens
challenged the newcomer

"Man, you're too young
to be living in this place
How did you pull it off"

and they crowded around
and wondered about
his wide belt
with a Zuni silver buckle
and asked if he shouldn't
have to sell it
to offset his low rent

at that point
Maggie Case spoke up
"You fools
don't have enough brains
among you
to fill a bird's skull

"What do want to see?
This man thrown out
on the street
because he has a nice
belt buckle? Get real!"

Notes

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McDaniel, Wilma. (2001) Borrowed Coats. Hanging Loose Press, Brooklyn, New York.
Courtesy University of California, Merced Library. Copyright owned by the Regents of the University of California.