Caren Krutsinger Poet Free verse

Reading Is Important

I have a good friend who could not read at all.  Had a brain block.
Was determined to not read as a child, thinking he would not need it.
TV was his life as an adult. He could not even read his bank statements.
One July all of his checks were bouncing like balls all over town.

The bank called and told him there was a problem with his account.
He ran up there to see what it was. The banker showed him pages
They all said “withdrawal, withdrawal, withdrawal, withdrawal.”
He had to ask him what it said. He had no clue.

His ex-wife who had begged him to leave her on his bank account
Was apparently addicted to gambling, and had no integrity at all.
He did not learn how to read, but he learned that he had been too kind.
He decided that he would have to finally take her off his account.

She met him on the street a month later, and began yelling and screaming.
She was angry that he had figured it out, wondering how he had.
He was a terrifically nice guy, and walked away quietly,
Not ever learning to read, but a better reader of ex-wives now….

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M. L. Kiser February 11, 2019 at 5:13 PM There's reading and then there's reading; it pays to read people. He learned a valuable lesson. Caren Krutsinger February 11, 2019 at 6:28 PM Unfortunately, he kept running after the same woman, just in different bodies.

Michelle Faulkner February 10, 2019 at 3:20 PM Wow, stinging last line, wonder if this is a true story? Caren Krutsinger February 10, 2019 at 4:45 PM Yes, but he is my cousin. And he died at 60, never learning to read. Living in a world I cannot imagine.