Friday, May 6, 2011

what we need (for Debbie)


once in a while
he got a glimpse of her grocery list
his margarine
tissues
unsalted-top saltines

sometime
he just noticed
that they hadn’t run out of milk
like he worried
they would
she knew how long things lasted
her inventories always one step ahead

he imagined writing an item
on her list
like bananas but it was already
there
maybe he could write something
they never bought
like frozen pizza
but he knew that his scribble
in the wrong spot
next to her easy script
could throw off the balance

of letters and categories
mixing the unseen map of aisles
as she rushed to fill the cart

with everything they need

Barry DeCarli
April 22, 2011
Ferrisburgh, VT
Copyright 2011 Barry DeCarli

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