Membership

Membership cards
are for anyone who
wants one.
No, make that needs one.
Very few passed up
the opportunity
to take one from his hand.
 
He then proceeded
to explain what
having one of these
cards meant.
 
It was about discipline,
belonging,
and believing
in each other.
 
Going it alone
meant living
in a ratty apartment
in a bad neighborhood,
drifting from one
poor-paying job
to the next,
catching every
disease going
and being beaten up
every once in a while
for your troubles.
 
With the card,
you’d be a part of something.
Without it,
think pain and degradation.
 
Some asked
what would happen
if they lost their card.
He gave those people two
just in case.