the nickel man – a 7th grade encounter
a bonus of jr high school was after lunch
I walked with my 9th grade sister to a
small mom-and-pop store where patsy
and I each bought a 5 c ice cream cone
every noon we passed a business man
probably on his way home to eat – how it
began we don’t recall but on seeing him
we’d chant “we wish we had a nickel
we wish we had a nickel” he ignored us
then one day he stopped suddenly turned
out his pockets a cascade of nickels rained
to the sidewalk he went on as we scrambled
to gather the bonanza they turned out to be
entirely slugs not a nickel amongst them
after that we passed the nickel man in silence
all faces expressionless I wish we’d had the
guts to say we STILL wish we had a nickel
or better yet to present him with one of ours
2022 Jacqueline Jackson
This article appears in Green growth.
