Claw Machine

Have you ever played a claw machine?

They’re usually rigged so you lose.

You’ll line it up perfectly, ready to win,

But the claw isn’t big enough to hold the prize.

Sometimes I think they grease those little robot hands up,

Just because they like it when little kids cry.

I did win a claw machine once!

I got a stuffed animal, a lizard I think?

But in all my self-satisfaction,

I couldn’t ignore

The gaping hole in the plush’s tail.

Sometimes I wonder if I live in a claw machine.

I line myself up right, and I reach as far as I can

But for some reason, I miss the prize.

And I ask, are my hands greased up??

Is my depth perception off?

Why am I INCHES from the things that I want??

No, I think I AM a claw machine.

Because I go ahead and try again,

Even though it costs me 25 more cents.

And I’m falling, and I feel it, and I drop it.

again.

And I watch what I want tumbling away from me

I did everything right.

I paid the price.

I chose a prize

but I just couldn't hack it.

I wish my hands were magnets,

Or my arms were stronger,

or my grip was just better,

if I could just hold on longer

And I could drop all my dreams into my own lap

But I’m just a stupid arcade game

That can’t hold her own.

So I’ll keep trying until something falls right into reach

And I’ll keep straining and grabbing and releasing again.

Until I feel like I’m worth my own 25 cents.