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Look Here, Goddammit

The hat lady still charges for trial 
looks in the shop mirror.
She knows a woman’s vanity, 
makes her pay for it in advance 
even if the thing looks ugly on her head. 
She says it’s mostly young girls,
think they can have things one way,
without paying the price. 
You’re supposed to know what you puttin’ on,
Goddammit.
There’s always a price to pay.
Meanwhile the husband’s gone. 
He was a gambling smile she took, 
lost the bet but came out flushed
four boys later, loud / big / blond,
more gamblers than the smile she fell for.
Goddammit.
The husband took one drink and never stopped.
Her heart took one man, then stopped.
He took one look at their life 
and never stopped running. 
That story she tells Tina,
doling out a dollar for a pillbox hat
that looks like crap on her poodle perm, goddammit.

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