Handling
Written October 22nd, 2002 by ivan
I.
I like the new five dollar bill, she said.
At least Old Abe isn’t folded in half
anymore. He just has to bear the split
across his left temple. Which is, of course,
where he bore it.
II.
The man in front of City Hall is or-
dinary. His clothes are black, but dirty
still, like a mottled camoflage dress suit.
You got a dollar?
He asks.
A fellow has got to eat.
The pushcarts brimming with pan-Asian food
glint off his eyes, receding back into
one grey hair at a time, into shadow.
Hey, baby.
He says, a young woman walking by.
A man gets awfully lonely.
The man in front of City Hall is or-
dinary. But he is not hidden. And
so she asks you:
What color is this man?
III.
Silver women continued to walk by.
Folded men in their pockets did not turn.
She looked at you, resolute, as if to
Say: The man in front of City Hall is
Ordinary.