Two Dollar Bills Poem by John Courtney

when I was a boy
it took two pieces of wood
and a leftover nail
to fly an airplane

and how I flew that sonofabitch!
up and down my street in famous aviation
seeking the revenge of knowledge
lifting off from a pothole of instant courage
crop-dusting the forbidden azaleas
undetected through the bumblebees
spinning cuteness under skirts
the big bomb delivered
on the head of the dragon
barking dog biscuit fire

yesterday I saw a man
on his way to Boston
from the middle of Pennsylvania
his skin was pink surgery
and his limp was fake and lame
all laid out on the highway island
his plastic voice in the cardboard scam

he was much older than me
but I played the adult reaching down
two dollars from a higher profile
it wouldn't get him to Boston
but it would get him to the hardware store
or the bottom of a bottle
where I knew he was a boy