Dime a Dozen

(A guy told me today with total confidence that for women, men are a dime a dozen. That has never been my experience which inspired me to pen this piece.) I could have collected empty soda cans from the side of the road and cashed them in They were worth five cents apiece back then I only needed two for that dime to buy a dozen men’s time and attention sparing myself those Saturday nights wasting away in my room reading as I listened to old records or the radio or sitting at a table alone as other girls danced held in the arms of a guy I didn’t know they had purchased for less than a single penny I could have had a whole harem if in the winter I had shoveled snow I had nothing else to do and nowhere to go