Two Pennies in my Pocket and Shoeless in Alaska

by Jennifer Bishop

Two pennies.
What the heck can I get for two pennies?
Not a meal, a motel room, or some clean clothes.
I hitchhiked to Alaska.
When I left, I had a backpack with a warm sweatshirt, two pairs of long pants, a pair of
long johns, three shirts, five pairs of socks (two were wool), underwear, a windbreaker,
my wallet with $600 dollars in it, and some food.
I got robbed at gunpoint and have nothing left.
So now I am broke, and stranded in Alaska with only
the clothes that I am wearing.
I just realized how desperate I am to eat something, and I'm
freezing cold.
How can America be so rich when there are so many who are poor?
Do we actually believe everything that the government tells us, or do we force ourselves to believe it?
The government is one immense lie.
Are they really doing what they say they are doing?
Can we, or should we trust G.W. Bush?
I don't think that's a possibility; it never was.
This country is XXXXed up. (The X-ed out word needs to be changed.)
I think I'll go live in Thailand or maybe Mozambique.
My feet are frostbitten.
I must find somewhere to get warmed up.
I passout in a snowbank and don't wake up.
This is what death feels like.

© Jennifer Bishop
September 22, 2002
 
   
Note: This site describes Peterson Toscano's work until late 2003. See PetersonToscano.com for current info.