gold bug

By the Sudanese stools is a satellite TV shop

Offering a kilo of gold, a solid gold bar

To anyone who enters their game, signs up, the usual show.

My neighbour’s son is mad for it. He wants a gold bar more than anything.

He is eight and I have been asked to help him with his maths.

I see this as a perfect teaching opportunity.

“One ounce is worth a thousand dollars,”

He smiles

“There are twelve troy ounces in a pound,”

He nods

“And 2.2 in a kilo- so how much is each bar worth?”

I lost him long ago. At last, face pained, he protests:

"I don’t even know what an ounce is."