but not until i was in the barnes and noble realizing
i sweat through my clothes
listening to the highway love unlimited album
trying to make out the letters on the tote bag
realizing i wasn’t wearing a mask
that no one was wearing a mask
o
gasping
a small white white wobbly
metal table
painted white but not having faded
significantly.
no clue what
we were talking about but i woke up
unable to go back to sleep
i never know what to get
at a deli.
here it is:
that deli in chappaqua i used to stop in
when i would go to the
warehouse for deliveries. also the warehouse
itself
deli sandwich options always seemed
so bland and cold.
yellow cheese on a hard roll? i don’t know
what i got but there i am
sitting on public benches on the corner
i could not make out the words or
the logo
that should have been a clue.
a lyric introducing the
highway love unlimited collective
said back in the day it was just
the 18 of us, sounded to me like
wishful head counting.
i was full of sweat in my
ex girlfriend’s sleeveless gray
static tee shirt
they call
it love unlimited but
i’m not sure if i believe
them.
three segments: deli at the mall
the long walk through a well lit
square
then at the bookstore where it became clear
creating a world from
good health and fear
and traffic
bought me time.
here in my monday best
i shake the edges
me, i don’t see much
i’m focused on the feeling
i close my eyes
and wander the cooler airs
like everything else that has
been smothered
they lift bodies
unnoticed
Sunshine and Wind 