every summer

a group of us

would go to Wildwood

down the shore

full of teenage angst

and MD20/20

and we would practice

on the fake slot machines

and poker machines

honing our skills

for when we finally

were old enough to gamble

on more than tootsie rolls

and stuffed animals

and the first trip

on the mile long walk

to the fake casino

tommy got hit by

bird shit

two times

the next trip

tommy got hit by

bird shit

three times

he got a lot of tootsie rolls

those first two times

so we wrote off his

bird shit

luck as good luck

like the saying goes

the third trip

he got by

bird shit

two more times

but left empty handed

the fourth trip

he showed up with

an umbrella

matching the old ladies

who were too delicate

for the sun

and the umbrella

was unscathed

the final trip

he ditched the

umbrella

and was hit only once by

bird shit

that got him

right on the top of his head

and tommy

threw his french fries

on the ground

and started screaming

and carrying on

and he walked back

to his car - his first car

and found it covered in

bird shit

and i think

he is a millionaire

lawyer now

and the rest of us

are not