We talk about buying a new television,
"But I want one now," she says.
So do I, once the mattress is paid for.

God Save American Express and 0% APR for 16 months!

How owing money to a company
inspires me to make money!
My obedience owes up.
They have the power to stop lending grace,
to stop offering Airline Miles.
I feel I'm paying homage to an ever-vengeful diety,
but at least they acknowledge me with a letter each month,
telling me how much I will have to work.

Yesterday I found my first grey hair.
Somehow the silver flake weaved its way from the roots
and grew as long as the dirt brown rest of the lot
without me noticing,
like the overnight growth of a dandelion
springing up from the dirt.

Today I searched my brow for the same silver strand,
but he had hidden, jumped ship, perhaps assailed to walk the plank
by the remaining troops.

But if tomorrow I find the grey, silver thread, stuck like grafitti to the sink faucet, or elsewhere, then I know the warning of a hair is worth heeding. And although he might have been the first, others are sure to follow.