Overheard these words
on a Philadelphia street
a toothless woman
a rusty gun 

They’ve had me quivering
for two full days now
as I’ve tried to decide
how to steal and reuse them
in a context 
of my own choosing —

how to create
a suitable conversation
not slanted
toward redneck imagery

Perhaps I’m quivering
because I can’t decide
why that was the first
context I imagined
would fit those words

Perhaps that’s why
I’m working so hard
to ensure that you know 
that I’m putting
someone else’s words
to work for me

Perhaps because
I myself have grown
toothless
and rusty
and making
the original conversation
an evil to rail against 
makes me feel
smiley and shiny again

Whatever the words are caught on
they landed in my ear
are trying to leave my mouth
are having a hell of time doing it

I don’t know where they want to go

I never even looked up to see
who in Philadelphia
was using them