My Payment

Clark Holtzman

I fly to Miami and I make a payment.
I fly to São Paulo and I make a payment.
I take a train to Utrecht and I make a payment
      with stops in Munich and Frankfurt,
      where I make payments in discreet amounts.

In Central Park I make a regular payment,
      like the payments I’ve made in Hyde Park
      and the ones in Park Forest.
Oh for the days when parks were pay-as-you-go.

Then I make a payment in Singapore
      and a payment in San Francisco.

Next Tuesday a payment is due
      in Barbentane, at the chateau,
      cash on the barrelhead, and by God I will be there
      if it bankrupts me.

One day, perhaps, I will follow the path
      to happiness and make a payment,
      perhaps a final installment.
Perhaps I’ll meet you there, making your payment.

Who knows?
Stranger things have happened . . .

Anyway, I am all about my payment.
If I didn’t have that,
      what would I have?
Nothing, I think. Nothing.

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