BASEBALL CARD BUBBLEGUM

You could buy one card
with a piece of pink bubblegum
covered in white powder for a penny
or a five card pack with a stick of
bubblegum for a nickel

It had its own odor, perfume for a
young boy’s nose, a slab about three
inches long, a little over an inch wide

The front teeth would break it up as it
entered the mouth, back teeth working
it into a juicy, sticky blob which tongue,
mouth, breath could blow and shape into
a blown bubble

The bubble always burst, as did childhood fantasies