Here You Go!

If I give you my spare change,

will you prove that samaskaras
are redeemed by time

will you use the coins like magnets

to pull all Charon’s payments
out of ancient Athenian graves

by some spell
that likewise freezes Yama’s
black stones midair?

Will you fool centurions’
exchange rate and afford Christ’s bail?

More realistically,
perhaps, you will buy a bottle of water
for a heat stroked man,

a compact first aid kit
to stop the bleeding
when your pocket
knife slips,

the half-gallon of gas you need to get home.