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expenses
$1.00 for the three congueros
on the D train
black men with beautiful braids
down their backs
too meticulous to be dreadlocks
$5.00 for queso made from yeast
bought from a friendly former hippie
in a Bushwick bar
where a bomb would have
devoured all the vegans
$1.00 for a bottle of water
on the subway platform
at Columbus Circle
to wash down the pills
that make the sun shine
“better living through chemistry”
$10.40 for an everything bagel with
eggs and cheddar
and a plain bagel with
tofu cream cheese
eaten with my lover
on a bench in Prospect Park
$104.00 for a MetroCard
to let me move between boroughs
for a month
until it runs out when I’m broke
and on the way
to somewhere important
$3.87 for yet another bagel
and a strawberry iced tea
before the sun came up
in Sunset Park
where I wouldn’t have been
but for her
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