it's a small and utterly worthless
gas-station trinket
pretty
and it reminds you of them
and for a second you can't help but want to buy it
and give it away
in the hopes that it will make everything alright

and then, on your way home, when you come face to face
with them
and their desperation
and you wish that you had bought it so there'd be something
to stand behind
cowering
unable to do anything but
plead silently

and years later,
and you wonder
if you had bought it
would it have fixed everything?
anything?
would it have repaired a soul

it's two decades since you saw that thing in the gas station
and life still hasn't moved on
well,
it has
but it hasn't
because you're still thinking about that *******
piece of plastic
and you just can't get it out of your mind
and you're buying beer
and you look to your left
and there it is
slightly modified
a bit beaten up
but the trinket
almost certainly not the same one
but this time you can't help yourself
your grab it off the shelf
and purchase it
for 99 cents
and you wonder why you didn't do that the last time around
it fixes nothing
absolutely nothing
and you didn't expect it t
but it's there
and they can see it

a small token of how ****** life has been
because that's life
slightly modified
a bit beaten up
but the same
for everyone
just the same