Friday, November 26, 2021

santa's skin rash

i get into a conversation
with the pretend
santa
up at the store.
he's so unlike  the real
santa.
his arm is about to fall off
from ringing
that bell.
it's loud and annoying.
he scratches his skin
below the fake
beard.
it looks like an ugly rash
has spread down his neck.
i drop a quarter
into the bucket.
that's it, he says. a quarter.
yes.
i tell him
but i'll give you ten
if you stop ringing that bell.
a hundred,
he says.
twenty, i counter.
twenty five, he says.
take checks, i ask him.
by the way,
you should have that neck
checked out
before an infection sets in.

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