Monday, December 18, 2017

day THREE HUNDRED and THIRTY THREE



fear and loathing at the ATM machine

i’ve surely
come at worst times
to find this ATM machine down

like when i needed a drink
more than i needed human contact or love
or i hauled my ass over three avenues
hungover with no headache medicine
in the cabinet at home and no cash in my wallet

but why in the hell are you down
at noon on a thursday?

certainly a conspiracy
with the credit card companies

that or you never had your debit card
compromised by little shits at the grocery store
who spent four-hundred bucks on camera equipment
and video games

and you were afraid to use the card again

this is horseshit
this beats all

your little haiku of denial can piss itself

sorry for the inconvenience
but this machine
is out of order

what in the fuck
am i going to buy my turkey sandwich
and nasal spray with?

my charm?

we live in a world where people
can have things in an instant

where people buy and sell each other over lunch

but i can’t even take
twenty bucks out of this crummy machine
to fill my belly and clear my nose

i’m so missing out on the bounty
of self-serving greed that is america

and yes i know i can use my card
at several other banks

but there’s a service fee
and you people have no clue
just how cheap i am

and why should i pay for your incompetence?

your institution must be republican owned
screwing over the little guy like this

you know what?
to hell with you…i’ll starve

we live in an era of protest
and today an aching belly will be mine

a runny nose to show the world
that the people won’t take it anymore
least of all from a piece of shit bank worth billions

who can’t even do their jobs
who can’t even fix a machine for christ sake
who don’t even have the decency
the moral currency and certitude to…

oh wait
there’s ten bucks rolled up in my back pocket

fuck it
never mind.

--John Grochalski

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