'ALL I WANTED TO DO...' by Dan Flore III

...WAS SIT IN THE GROCERY STORE AND WRITE WITH MY BEERS.

all I wanted to do was sit

in the grocery store

and write at the little tables they had

with my six pack

but they told me

I had to buy one beer

and have a snack with it

in order to drink there

but I had already bought the six pack

and I didn’t want to spend anymore money

my wife said, are you sure, you don’t want to stay?

yeah, I said, I’ll just write at home

so I left with the six pack

came home and wrote two lines-

the earth is having a panic attack

it’s gusts of wind are its shiver

then I continued my 3 of the six pack

mixed with the pills I take,

I got drunk pretty fast and depressed

I laid down

couldn’t write anymore

and before passing out

wondered what I would have written in the supermarket

and that it probably would’ve been better than the two lines I came up with,

how it would’ve be fun too

getting a good buzz in my head

and on the page

I bet I would’ve mentioned the lady

in the frozen foods

and how she was more delicious

than any of the food

there

I felt guilty for lusting after her

so to combat it and feel altogether better

I kept thinking of my wife’s hair

wrapping around my aching mind

like a bandage

then I couldn’t see the lady in the frozen foods anymore

or my wife’s hair

I only saw me in the supermarket saying

yeah I’ll just write at home

and I felt like killing him​

All Rights. Dan Flore III

Dan Flore III’s poems have appeared in many publications. His fifth poetry book is Written in the dust on the ceiling fan, published by dead man’s press ink.