Times I feel like my mother

Artist: Benjamin Mast

When I cross the road for a penny
nearly camouflaged by its
grimy patina
and hope it’s head’s up
but I pick it up either way

When I tell people that my father is a good man
a really good man
and they nod
because everyone knows it to be true

When I scoff at milk chocolate
when there’s dark to be found

When my siblings fight
about something trivial
or perhaps monumental
and I am silent or better yet
when I distract by means of a joke
or by prodding at a cousin at the table about her love life
and why my uncle’s diet won’t amount to much
and how all the pennies that I’ve found this year
could pay for a month of rent