Vending Machine Euphoria

Vending Machine Euphoria
By: Sheri Rosa

If I could compare love to anything,
I would compare it to a claw vending machine.
It sits in the back of the arcade yet you always find yourself
gravitating towards it.
You put a quarter in, and your eyes light up with all
the different prizes you could choose from.
You finally decide which one you’ll go for
and ease the crane over to it.
Your heart pound as it lowers down
and you’re sure it will pick up that little pink monkey
you so desperately want.
It grips onto its leg and then pulls back.
The sparkle in your eye diminishes
and you put in another quarter.
You won’t give up until you get that pink monkey.
You try and try despite the fact
you miss every time.
You’ll waste all your money on it.
But why?
You’ll wait until you can come back next month
and then you try again.
You don’t get it.
A couple years past by and you’re older now.
The machine has gathered some dust but you still feel
that same euphoria as the first time you saw it.
You figure “hey, what the hell” and put a quarter in.
Your eyes wander from prize to prize
and you finally see it.
The little pink monkey.
You’re skeptical as to whether or not to go for it due to all the other times you failed…
But no other prize in that machine can compare to that one.
So you lower the crane once more, anticipating
whether or not you will be disappointed like all the years before.
Yet this time it finally picks it up.
It picks it up and lowers it down into the box for you to collect.
You hold the pink monkey in your hands and you realize that just like love, some things in life are well worth the wait.