poem of the day 03.12.2010

new liquor store

the new liquor store
that i go to opens up
at nine in the morning

much earlier than
my other liquor stores

it’s cheaper too

the liquor merchant sits
behind a glass desk
that is filled with pints
of expensive booze

he’s a beady-eyed little asian man

he doesn’t say a word to me

i thought he didn’t speak english
until i heard him talking
to someone else

i tried saying hi once
but it didn’t work out

so we don’t talk

that’s okay because
it’s easier like that

i just come into his store
and get what i need

my cheap french red

the nectar of the gods

i think the only problem
that i have is in the way he judges me

because it’s early
because i look the way that i do

i’m not up for explaining myself to him
i’ve been judged by better
and i’ve had to explain myself
to nearly everyone

friends, parents, lovers, bosses,
and other liquor merchants

none of them seem to get me

neither will he

so i slam my money down
on the counter
he rises from his throne to take it
slamming my change back
the same way

he wraps my golden jewel bottle
in one of those plastic bags
that is strangling the earth

and i leave

safe in knowing that he and i
will go through this comedy act
tomorrow
at the same time

it’s some reassurance
one more common thing
to help me get through the day

unless, of course, he raises his prices
like the last one did to me

then the fucker and i are through