Contributor: Richard Schnap

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During hard times in my life
I would find things to sell
That had lost any meaning for me

A broken guitar amplifier
That crackled and spit
Like a man in an electric chair

A collection of old pennies
That was worth even less
Then when they were first minted

An autographed baseball
With the signatures of a team
That kept losing year after year

But the one thing I regret
Letting slip from my life
Was a solid ivory Buddha

Whose miniature face
Was carved in a laugh
As if trying to teach me a lesson


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Richard Schnap is a poet, songwriter and collagist living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His poems have most recently appeared locally, nationally and overseas in a variety of print and online publications.