Five hundred in current, I said

Straight; the rest were old bills

Of the stuff only banks would

Pay until December end.

And my cellphone’s Jurassic!

Perplexed for a moment thin

The driver pressed, and moved

That I change the old for new money,

Anywhere, with anybody -- at once!

Else, he’d give it the gun.

I kept the quiet, knowing

Its might in times like this.

My mind’s presence now him,

To go back the distance, where

The house of a comrade held uncertain.

 

Was he home or was he home?

I shuddered the question,

Hoping not otherwise; but not in vain. 

On the way, we made a deal

To glance each other from whatsit.

I laid my things, and the car strode

To knock, my friend wary at the door.

No questions asked; I requested

A switch for friendship’s sake,

Cash for cash, again, no questions asked.

I cared my comrade, self seeming

Not quite, to be sure, but i

Had a canny feel I was on

The right track to engage

A condition of my nature.

I handed the phone and money, funny

We carried on to where I was going

At first: Cinema One. Off the dot,

A fortune dream was crushed. Failing,

I walked exhausted, yet undefeated.

It’s strange the cabby stayed,

And drove me back to where I hailed him.

Thank Heavens, for small graces; for pits

That closed different people. And for

Being senior strong in the field of the weak.