How quickly we turn from grateful to greedy.
—Ann Patchett
Everybody knows money can turn it all around.
Cover rent, school loans, groceries, everything we require—
we find fresh needs: wooden bowls. A trip into town.
Puny humans, our adorable desires.
When I won that big check I asked for the cash;
I wanted to smell it, thumb the crisp heft
that changed my life. They put it in my hands.
Fat stacks of twenties on the bank manager’s desk, left
alone with all our dreams come true. What changed?
I took pictures of my over-flowing purse,
held more money in my arms than I made
most years. Remembered debt, jobs, worry, worse,
and felt relief like that. The money counter whirred.
We watched, talked about lunch. Started to get bored.
—Jill McDonough
Jill McDonough teaches in UMass-Boston’s MFA program and is the director of 24PearlStreet, the Fine Arts Work Center online.
