CONVENIENCE STORE
BY SARA TRATTNER
it’s been a long time since anyone said he was a writer
a rust belt poet
browsing a campus convenience store
picking up shitty beer and circus peanuts
fingerprinting “everything is beautiful” in condensation on the chest freezer
he wants to drink nicotine
wraps himself in cigarette
smells like mothers arms and mother’s clothes back in grade school
he took it literally
when you said
“take me for what i am”
so he took you
made you the patron saint of aching bones
i’m sure someone’s got a god for that
and he paces the aisles
wishes he ate to be full of catharsis
like krispy kreme would heal his muscle spasms
he asks you if people can be symbols
people can be symbols
but there’s probably a god for that too
who says
“one too many”
like it’s a gift
at the udf
he pays for his haul with a matchbook and two keys
pulls the midwest from his wallet
and leaves a penny
Gyroscope Review 16-4
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