Fleabite Scabs

 They looked like fleabite scabs on her ankles.
She had a chipped-tooth smile
A fat back
And smelt of tomorrow’s laundry basket, today.

But when she said
The clothes dumped outside charity shop
Looked like a bed of flowers
I noticed that her lips were prettier
Than anyone else’s in the pub that night
And her flea bitten ankles had shape.
So I offered to buy her a drink.

Anyone who thought rags
Strewn across the path
Looked like roses in bloom
Was worth a vodka and coke any day of the week.