X + Y

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   X and Y  were Peetniking
   on Martin Luther King Day
   never did they lack
   for something to say. 

   X  said
 "My friend donated
   two fingers to charity."
   Y  almost spilled
   his black coffee.

   He boasted so loud
   with bravado grand:
 "My mother donated
   her left hand!"

   X  said 
 "You sound proud
   of the fact."

   Y  said
 "It is just my
  false bravado tact.

"I pride in her
  every breath.
  It is the only way
  to deal with her death."


  Then Ed walked
  in the door.
  Applause crossed
  the floor

  From all
  the Peetniks there.
  Table #1 
  offered him a chair.

  None of us had seen
  the limping man
  since from the shoppe
  he had been canned.

  A hero's return
  is always nice
  but only Y
  applauded twice:


  Once–
  just like all the others
  once again–
  for the fallen mothers.


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 Footnote
 X + Y  is the copyrighted property of LCSoL.
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