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Recorded Reading (2:08): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/z309mtwo8smjyd41d8iid/Fine-and-Dandy.m4a?rlkey=nw6kfnyagl8g7vd8ho9gobfa5&dl=0

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Fine and Dandy

I passed a Southern Christmas
A small town Mississippi in
In an antebellum mansion
Stuffed to eaves with kith and kin

Being, me, a Northerner
And a newcomer beside,
I was at dinner unassigned
To any place at tableside

In the lovely crumbling parlor
Mid the mistletoe all hung
The more priveledged members
Of that gathering among

But was placed the kitchen in,
A generous old fashioned one,
Filled with good comraderie
Jolliness and sun

We joked about our status
And chortled with delight
That all by accident we’d got
The situation right

And managed less constraint
In surely better company
By being at the servants’ table
Each assigned to be!

But lo — the portal opens
And someone is outward bid
The fateful finger points to me
That little crowd amid

I know the time: I summoned am
To pass in the review
Of those whom unofficial visa
May, or just may not, renew

Concerning my continued presence
In their sanctioned midst —
Without a second thought, away
I all those chances kissed

I absolutely could not face
In my own character aught lack
Would make me fine with showing
All those good people my back

Politely, I said thank you
There was no need for the fuss
Because I’d found I was just
Fine and dandy as I was

It took a beat — another beat
For that “no” to register
Never anyone they knew
To such a summons not defer

And though of course I paid the price
Soon enough that trespass for
The price to stay there would have been
A million chilly moments more

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This poet is physically disabled.

Public housing being insufficient to her medical and creative needs, in order to continue working she is presently living in her minivan, publishing all of her works using one thumb on the touch screen of her smartphone and surviving at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level.

If her work has touched you, she would treasure any contribution you might be good enough to offer ~ http://www.UgiftABLE.com ● #72D-31S.

Please be aware that it takes several days for her to be notified of patronage. Thank you for caring.

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