青空百景

MONOPOLY (after Ashbery)by Sarah Howe

I keep everything until the moment it's needed.
I am the glint in your bank manager's eye.
I never eat cake in case of global meltdown.
I am my own consolation.

I have a troubled relationship with material things: I drop my coppers smugly in the river.
( I do everything with an unbearable smugness. )
I propose a vote of thanks.

I make small errors in your favour. Sometimes
I pretend nothing is wrong. 
I won second prize in a beauty contest.
I am yellowing at the edges.

I was last seen drawing the short straw.
I hang about tragically on street corners, where
I hand out cards that read : if you see
I am struggling to lift this card, please, do not help me .