Barter
by Philip Wexler
With her empathy for the sorrows of the world never-ending, she was depleted of tears before long, so went to the most callous and hard-hearted cutthroat she knew to request a portion of his unused supply. “What do I stand to gain from this?” he asked in so many words. She was not short of suggestions, emphasizing the grimaces, frowns, growls, grunts, sneers, and scowls she would gladly part with, not expecting to make use of any and having no need to keep them in reserve. Surely, he was running short of those displays of emotions he was so fond of peppering his days with, in reaction to the perceived idiocy of the world whichever way he looked. So, a bargain was struck, and they exchanged vows, of a sort. Unfortunately, she was no more frugal with her new supply of tears nor he with his acquired collection of scowls, visual and audible, than before. He grew distraught at running out of what had been his lifeblood and begged her for just enough of his tears back to have one good cry. She was incensed at his ready willingness to breach their arrangement and wanted nothing but to glare and scowl at him, but these were expressions she could no longer draw upon. Thus, they stood looking at each other, poker-faced, regretting the hasty barter but powerless to turn back the clock.
Philip Wexler has over 200 magazine poem credits. His full-length poetry collections include The Sad Parade (prose poems), and The Burning Moustache, both published by Adelaide Books, The Lesser Light (Finishing Line Press), With Something Like Hope (Silver Bow Publishing) and I Would be the Purple (Kelsay Books). He also hosts Words out Loud, a hybrid in-person and remote monthly spoken word series in the Washington, DC area.