Karl Koweski

the god of chicken wing thieves

my fate’s in God’s hands, now,
says the woman arrested
for stealing a million and a half
dollars’ worth of chicken wings
meant for the school district’s
free lunch program for
underprivileged children during
the CoVid crisis.
apparently, there’s a black
market for back-alley wings.
during those two years she sold
eleven thousand cases of wings
to fund her gambling addiction.

now, I’m not certain the god
of chicken wing thieves is open
to the prayerful petitions
of someone who would deny
the chicken appetites
of poor school children but
a person well-versed in the 
vagaries of karma might opine
a woman who has gambled away
that much money with nothing
to show for it has already
had her fate decided for her.