We made our way out to the west side. Rough part of town, but we were on a mission. To find Ozark’s Pawn. Heard about a Gibson they had. Wanted to see it for myself. Wanted to see if it was real or fake. Finally found the joint – couple people hanging outside – started to feel like this just might not be right. But it was the joint we were looking for, just walked in right through the door. The Gibson was a fake, plane to see, it was in broad daylight, didn’t take much from me. But my love found a ring so shiny and loved. She knew we were sent here from above. So she snatched it up in a hurry and we left in a scurry. This is a poem about that afternoon at Ozark’s Pawn Shop. Enjoy.

–

This goes out to the thrifters

The seekers of deals and goods

My love and I embrace tenderly

The idea of gathering what you can

In ginger subtlety

Creaking doors

Bar lined windows

Smell of second hand soap

On your pillow

Dirty carpets with retro splash

Red in the corners

In the straight it’s black

Finger prints upon cases

Guns, knifes, rings, and guitars

We are going to pay for this wedding

No matter the scars

Bout doing whatever we can

We will go that far

Asking questions

Tapping wood

Making eye contact to make sure

The seller understood

What questions we asked to better know

The things he sells

New and old

We bought a wedding band

Not too bashful to say

The man straight up made us a deal

We could not walk away

Collected our things and got out of his space

Passerby’s can get weary

You have no real time to waste

I was unsettled

“We have to get where we are going”

So we took the ring to the jeweler

She was oh

Quite delighted

“You must have spent a pretty penny”

Truth be told

We did not spend that many

She pulled out a monocle and held it high

Then snatched it back to her eye

Took a good look and said in reply

Its well worth ten times what you paid

No way did you pay what you say

But the truth be told we found it in a place

Way out on the west end

We had not a plan

The man just made us a deal

That’s how our wedding plans began