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Issue # 1 March 2010
"... brevity is the soul of wit ..."
- William Shakespeare

Ruth Holzer


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Elderly Couple On Park Bench, N.Y.C

(Diane Arbus photograph)

What's in my bulky shopping bag?
Loads of things I seemed to need
hours ago, before I had
to plead with him to let me rest my feet
as he force-marched me through the park.
Now I'm as weary as I can be
of the person sitting next to me.

The person sitting next to me:
someone I'd not choose again,
given the second chance that I won't get.
I followed all around the town,
a poodle, heeding her commands,
leashed for life to a greedy hag.
Damn her and her shopping bag.