poem of the day 05.16.16

standing in line at the big pharmacy chain

you know the one

there’s at least two of them on every block

on every avenue here

five registers at the counter

but only one of them ever in use

serviced by some over-worked cashier

paid a politician’s idea of a living wage

and a line snaking half-way through the store

if i wasn’t hungover and in need of water so badly

i wouldn’t even be in this place

behind the old lady with five package of paper towels

behind the chinese chick with a basket

full of nail polish and polish removal

behind the old man buying two for one razors

who probably forgot his special store card

behind this cranky woman

who so desperately needs a plastic dog lawn ornament

that she’s willing to suffer this as well

behind the blonde with her starlet sunglasses

shouting on her cell and sucking on a gallon of ice coffee

who, i know, is going to pay for her m&ms with a credit card

i’d take my business and go elsewhere

but there’s nowhere left to go

the big pharmacy chains have gutted the neighborhood

the mom and pop bodegas are gone

when my stomach rumbles here

there’s only dunkin donuts, mcdonald’s or subway to feed me

this block is littered with so much corporate waste

i always feel like i’m at a convention

screw it, i think

but i really need the water

plus some headache aspirin

only i don’t want to get out of this line for it

because the guy behind me has a cart full of soda

and the woman behind him has six boxes of cereal

and three bad children

because the old lady with the five package of paper towels

is arguing now with the cashier

about what the weekly flyer says versus this abject reality

that we’ve all shoved ourselves into

i think someone farted or took a shit in their pants

so i stand there and wait

head pounding and gas pains doing a number on my chest

reading the glossy tabloids all about the forty year-old actor

who looks about half of his age

the one who wins awards and sleeps with twenty year-old models

who looks like he’s never stood in a long line like this

wishing he could kill everyone in it

or was forced into buying two for one of anything

with a special store card

that one of his various handlers most likely

forgot.