Peaches

Peaches

the last race
of the day
a day 
of bad luck
or bad choices
with the only ticket
i'd cashed
was when
my horse
scratched

last race
8 horses
one started off 
99 to 1
another
67 to 1
so i put down
$5 win
a hail mary
on both

by the time
they ran
the odds
had dropped
to 57 to 1
and 22 to 1

that last race
one of my horses
the #8
hit
on a $5 bet
at 22 to 1
returning
most
of what i'd lost
for the day

after the track
i stopped
at the grocery

i saw some peaches
they were on sale
i saw the yellow sign
proclaiming
$1.99
a pound

i chose a peach
i squeezed it
i smelled it
i put 3 peaches
in a bag

the self-checkout was full
i waited in line
with all my shit
for my turn

finally
i advanced
i scanned
i got to my peaches
there was no sticker
on a single peach
so i searched
on the screen
but i didn't know
if the peaches
on sale
were the white
or the yellow
i didn't know
if they were
georgia
or california
if they were
organic
or inorganic

so i picked one
randomly
on the screen
sorta like
picking a horse
and weighed the peaches
and it showed me
the price
more expensive
than what
i expected

but i figured
even if i chose
the wrong peaches
to pay for
peaches
not on sale
i was only out
a couple
of bucks
and
with the line
of other people
behind me
deliriously waiting
as i had waited
it wasn't worth
saving
a buck or two
for all of them
to put any more
of their day
on hold
while i sorted out
the true cost
of those
peaches

so i kept scanning
at whatever the loss
since
the track
had evened me out
on that last race
a $5 win
at 22 to 1
placing me
in a temporarily
good mood
good enough
to give back
to the world
a little
something
like a couple bucks
worth
of their
time