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Gilbert Allen
Say Cheese
I see dead people
is the scary line in the movie
but in America, you find them
in your pocket. Presidents, postage
stamps, Susan B. Anthony—we pay for the dead
with the dead, wherever.
And it’s not much different in countries
we occasionally visit, countries
of living currency—most
with a history longer than the shadow
of a log cabin.
Colosseum, cathedral, chiaroscuro—
those flash-frozen Energizer Bunnies, backlighting
your Kodak Moment. It’s enough to make you
believe in ghosts as you abandon
your billfold gallery to make love
to your lover, amends
with your friends.
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