Bad Luck

by Sara Backer

Like a finch at a feeder

fending off other birds,

the yellow muumuu woman

scrapes her lottery ticket

in front of its vending machine,

preventing interlopers

from scoring the jackpot

she thinks she will earn

by using up the bad luck

one ticket at a time.

* * * * *

"Bad Luck" is from Sara Backer's collection Such Luck (Flowstone Press, 2019).