"66489"
from Arbor Vitae 4.3
by Carl Palmer
Wheel-chaired into the lobby
from his assisted care room,
the elderly Jewish gentleman
squints into bright camera lights,
accepts the lottery check,
smiles at the television crew.
A newspaper reporter asks,
“Was this a computer pick
or did you already have
some numbers in mind?”
He focuses on her microphone,
as his hand rubs the sleeve
of the frayed gray sweater
covering his faded blue tattoo.