Traverse along the pebble-filled potholes,
wander aimlessly through the aisles at CVS,
gazing at every variety of potato chips in their
plastic bags whose wrinkles glisten ever so slightly.
buy something just because you’d feel awkward
going somewhere and coming back with nothing.
After all, you’ve never heard of a Classical hero like
Perseus or Han Solo that returns from any quest,
no matter how small, without a boon of some kind.
You always have to bring something home, right?
Even if it’s just a bag of BBQ potato chips or Oreos.
Muffle your dry mouth into the top of your zippered coat
as you leave the warm womb of the local convenience store,
only to suddenly remember what you went there to get in the first place
and cuss in front of the old lady and her five-year-old grandson.
Morgan Boyer is the author of The Serotonin Cradle (Finishing Line Press, 2018) and a graduate of Carlow University. Boyer has been published in Oyez Review, Thirty West Publishing Press, and Kallisto Gaia Press. Boyer is a bisexual neurodivergent living in Pittsburgh, PA.
Twitter: @MorganBoyerPoet