Five Dollars

I'm selling this poem for five dollars
And I'll write another for four
The last one, I think, I'll sell for a dollar
Definitely not anymore.

I dared my husband yesterday
To ski off the side of the trail
Down into the hollow
Not far
Through unbroken snow
Lovely and pure
Sparkling and beckoning
It was
(But more than I desired
To do on my own)
And I thought he could
But not that he would
Five dollars, I said
Then he did what he had not before
With a smile on his face
He skimmed down the hill

And this morning
While setting out on a walk
I egged him to cross over our pond
Not very deep
Covered with ice
Five dollars, I said
When I have offered before
He has just shaken his head
But today he wandered right over
Put a foot on
Gently and slowly
He easily crossed
Not a crack, bump or bruise.

And while I am thankful
In both he succeeded
He was not to have agreed
From the start.

So now I owe him ten dollars.
Please won't you buy me
Out of my problem
Perhaps it is something I should
Not have started.
But I did and we smiled.
That's the story.