sitting in the cafe on the corner
a woman in thin wire glasses
asked me for a flame
i reached to give her one but what i pulled out
wasn't mine
"Lighters turn us all into kleptomaniacs" she half-shouted over the Nina Simone,
(her dress shirt turned before she did)
i turned the lighter over in my hand
a picture of a pencil ,something in italian
i said
"i've never seen this in my life"
she said, eyeing the potted plant
"but your hand has."