my fiancee got a tattoo in the gulch
this is the richest part of Nashville
where celebrities live in high rise
condos there was a sign advertising
shopping, food, culture and free parking
and just a few blocks away a man is selling
me a paper to buy just one dollar but
the paper only gives him copies once
every four weeks and his only marks
are tourists I thought of the scene from
The Great Gatsby where the billboard
looked over the outskirts of the city,
the eyes, the guilt, the fear in a handful of dust
I am afraid that I will feel guilty when we
move to Nashville next year and the city
pushes the poor farther away so I can
drink horchata in Germantown so
I’m glad my daughter worries about money
when she picks out the gummis she wants
at the Kroger even if I tell her she doesn’t
have to worry about that with us but I
appreciate it that she does and I am watching
her grow up when I offer the cart with the red car
in the front she is six years old and she should
never be too old to stop feeling and caring about
people and holding back tears in a tattoo parlor
while reading the Perks of Being a Wallflower.
minor publication 