Priceless

An old black and white 

picture of my girlfriend as 

a young girl 

hangs on our refrigerator

It is one of those pictures 

of a child smiling so intently 

that it makes you happy 

every time you see it

She is in a small row boat 

docked on the shore 

and it clearly did not matter to her

that the boat was only just near the water

It reminds me of when my son was that age

and my daughter and I would take him 

to a local pizza parlor and he would yell

“Pinbaw, pinbaw, I want to play pinbaw!”

and we would prop him up 

in front of the modern pinball machine 

with its phantasm of blinking-lights and 

thunderous clanking noises

and all the while 

the great machine was in ‘demo mode’ 

calling people to come play and 

give up their quarters

yet we never had to give him 

a single quarter to enjoy himself 

as he pushed the flipper buttons

and yelled “Come on, Come on!…Oh!!!”

It never cost me 

a dime

and it was 

priceless

So use your 

imagination 

and your heart 

just right

and you won't need to sail your boat

to love the dream of adventure

or play the game 

to appreciate the challenge

Ken Owen   
Van Niddy Press,  October 2019