25 years ago for $25

the taupe leather pouch

basked on the well-lit counter,

beckoned Helen with every tooth

in its zipper, with its omitted flap.

Take me home, it whispered.

Don't leave me here, it begged.

Helpless under the assault

Helen pulled out her checkbook,

succumbed.

25 years later she admits

with ironic twist to her mouth

that she's tried to throw the old

bag away but retrieves it each time

from the trash.

Took it to the Salvation Army,

snatched it out of the volunteer's

hands. She even runs it

through the washing machine

when it needs a bath.

Cord lining shredded, leather wrinkled

as its owner's face, the taupe handbag

zipper still zipping goes to church,

town and grocery store under Helen's

besotted smile.

Biography

Patricia Wellingham-Jones is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, author of Don't Turn Away: Poems About Breast Cancer, Apple Blossoms at Eye Level, and Welcome, Babies as well as editor of Labyrinth: Poems & Prose. She has been published widely in print and online journals and anthologies.