john con

saw an old con man
that i used to work with
and loosely know in my days at
the YMCA.

he stole slabs of meat ribs
from our freezer that was
to benefit kids who needed a facility
to come to.

he also stole equipment and cameras
that the kids used all the time.

and after he was exposed,
he was quickly torn out of our script.

it had been over 4 years since i saw
this 'john' dude,
if that was his name,
and he was walking up a dirty street
on the east side of town.
he looked worn,
lost,
ghost like,
broken,
falsely happy,
riddled with human debt
and oblivious to the mechanics of good living.

as i gripped the wheel a bit tighter,
i peered into my rear view mirror
to see him recede into my past
yet again
as my tiny boy
glowed like river treasure
in his seat
as my past and futures
quickly swam over that small
sliver of mirror.