living in a 5 figure world

you total it for the taxes
this job and that job
the deals on the side
and maybe notice how many columns
the money spreads across this year

the one salary i clearly remember
was right out of college
20K a year working for NASA
money for red meat and beer
the wealth of fresh vegetables
and a full tank of gas
no more day old bread
macaroni and cheese
and renting a room
from a drug dealer with a pit bull

he was starving it
to fight it for money
and i was feeding it
one starving bitch to another
one night on 'shrooms
and reliving 'Nam he came at me
and that dog took my bullet

so if it's 6 figures this year
and i'm suddenly considered rich
blame the dog

Copyright © LeeAnn Heringer
3 February 1996

"the voice of my poems"
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