olive oil bottle smashing in the middle of an aisle

Goosebumps here in my forearm for the first time in
How long?
You endure the simplest things
Facing the little meaningless violence of doing groceries
Twice, maybe three times a week
The little meaningless violence that yet prides on slapping you
Everyday
A little meaningless playful slap
Until you hold it no more when the bottle of import olive oil
Smashes in the middle of the aisle

No one taught you how to behave
That’s it
No one showed you any better
So it seems not every suburb is the same
The closer you get home the farther you feel from yourself
It came to this in your own device
You drove the U-Haul yourself

The golden liquid spread slowly
And you would love to dissolve in it
Flow
But then there is a customer representative offering help
And someone recognizes you
From school, right?
You would love to dissolve

Life is a badly played round of Tetris


nick sailor (Cleveland, OH, 1974)