The Ugliest Piñata

by Melanie Browne

She was the prettiest girl he had ever seen,
her family sold piñatas from the back
of a truck, he could see her that day as he pulled
his car over to the shoulder of the busy highway,

he had watched her carefully, studied her in the rear-view
mirror until he finally stopped that day. I want a Piñata
for my niece he told her, and she nodded and
showed him the ugliest Piñata he had ever seen, it looked like Elvis,

or at least bore a resemblance to Elvis at one time or another,
he didn’t actually have a niece, so he handed her ten dollars and let his eyes
linger on her face a little too long, she said gracias, he said adiós,
and she watched him walk away,

wondering why he would ever buy such a horrible thing but hoping
he might also have a nephew that needed an ugly Piñata