POEM - I Didn’t Win the Lottery

The rage last night was the jackpot

Six-hundred-million is a lotta bones

Fantasized about winning

All the cool adventures we’d have

I’d take time off from work

Buy a secluded artist commune

Never tell the relatives

Grow a beard

Wear flip-flops and cutoffs

Buy a Bahama Bucks franchise

Set up shop in Foley Beach

Sell shaved ice and happiness

What a life that would be

But I didn’t win

Then the next day something happened

Veronica was carrying a wood box around

It looked like a treasure box

She was supposed to be busy

Getting ready for church

Doing her makeup

Drying her hair

Instead she was filling her box

With mysterious content

Distracted by another task

She sat the box down

I looked in it

To see if my suspicions were correct

Of course they were

It was full of ponies

Little brightly colored plastic ones

That she has been collecting

I looked at a few

Shook my head a little

Then a thought came to me

I do try occasionally

To relate to these honyocks

I said, “You know, you should design a game

One that you could use these on.’

Innocent enough

But the reaction was exponential

She lit up with so much nerd-licious joy

I thought for a second she would burst

Then she laughed, a lot

Because she knew it was silly

But she knew it was fun

And that I was trying

I laughed too

It’s good when you break through

Say the thing they relate to

Make a connection that matters

Hit the jackpot that counts