I stand before my college class struggling
For the forty-dollar word to replace
The two-dollar one
That inadvertently slipped my lips
You know -
Those words that tell
The skeptical you’ve been there
Done that
Read that and
Know this

Those words have worn smooth
My rugged road from Compton
Words speaking a sub-text of
Silhouetted meanings
The words that bring on the dreaded
Compliment “articulate”
As if I could speak
Any other way

But, it appears I can
I have a way with words plentiful
The two-dollar variety
Like my cheap shoes
Of childhood:
Sometimes embarrassing
Always loyal    

Today, my two-dollar
Words work quietly
In poetic dungeons
Hooded in simplicity
Fooling no one
Laboring, as they do,
Under the
Trappist Creed:
Give up everything
Give up everything