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Con Man

Text of Poem

The gifts I buy and offer you, my dear,
may seem installments on a payment plan
devised to ease you, an impoverished heart
finds purse more open than the inner man.

When you unwrap them I hope you can find
forgiveness for the way I try to meet
the promissory notes you hold, my name
proved to your eyes I walk on honest feet.

Bankrupt, burglar, forger, I confess
the signature I swore to write in sand
you witnessed when I opened love’s account,
I bring you gifts to hide my empty hand.

First Line
The gifts I buy and offer you, my dear,
Original Pub Location
Original Publication Date
1972
Original Citation
Wormwood Review 12 (Oct. 1972) 42.
Complete Poems
255
Word Count
93
Poetic Form
closed
Themes