How Much?

what am i doing in front of this machine
trying to be a hero

a penny’s old hat
and she don’t give a brass razoo

the dame’s inflated to zero
…don’t suppose she takes crypto

she’s worse than my cousin
too poker for a joker
daggers and darts without trajectory

still i roll and take my chances
heat plus cold cracks my glass

can faintly smell that she’s a smoker
but where does she hide her matches

this piercing dissonance competes with chalk
my tablet just wants simple signs
that i might recover my losses

the long drawn out silence drags
it’s longer than a birthday prayer
since when was mind reading a certification