5$ by Wayne F. Burke

she comes across the
parking lot calling 
to me: "Sir! Sir!"
Sunglasses on pancake make-up
face (to hide the zits?)
she says she out of gas
her kids miles away
her husband pissed
her ATM card rejected by the machine
won't I give her five dollars for
gasoline?
A little too hysterical for
believability, but
not a bad acting job, if that...
Actress with a crack problem?
Crack-head with an acting problem?
Hard to say.
Oh well, only five dollars, a drop
in the bucket
for a rich fuck
like me.

Wayne F. Burke's poetry has been widely published online and in print. He has published six full-length poetry collections, most recently DIFLUCAN (BareBack Press, 2019). He lives in the Pine Tree State.