when she gives them the tokens she gives them with a warning
it’s a scam, built to cheat you, a lesson in false hope
when the token is plunked into the slot anyway
when the joystick jolts the claw’s clumsy arm
when it grazes a rubber ducky at the top of the pile
when one ducky touches another ducky
when the spirit moves in the hearts of the duckies
when the spirit moves the bodies of the duckies
when an avalanche of rubber duckies is triggered by something bigger than us
when it’s raining rubber duckies when rubber duckies
are flooding the base of the machine
when one child holds the flap open and another scoops the duckies to her chest
when the prodigal duckies are finally welcomed home
when the duckies start spilling onto the floor
when everyone in the arcade stops to witness the miracle of the duckies
when everyone in the arcade stops to feel the radiant abundance of, I think, joy
when the kids begin to dance in the pile of duckies, to toss them into the air, to laugh
when one child turns to the mother, palms cupping a singular rubber ducky, an offering
when he says see?
do you see?
