crowds crowding
cowboy hats
american flags
ninety-nine cents flip
flops flip everything
you see is made in china
didn’t you know that?
dirty babies cry
dirty dollar bills
between smoke-stained fingers
and cheap red lipstick:
roscoe sweats bullets in the bread aisle because everything is gone
and I mean EVERYTHING
because it’s thursday
and all of the handicap spots are taken
the check got cashed on the first
and because there isn’t a functional grocery cart to be found
in the swaying heat
people walking right in traffic!
and large men are riding children’s bicycles
in faded blue jeans
since drinking-water sold in plastic poison for eighty-cents a gallon
is the best deal in town
bringing people together
and last but not least because roscoe ain’t got the money
here in america
to celebrate freedom
with a five dollar t-shirt
and last week’s hotdogs
Maryam El-Shall lives and works in Florida. Previously published works by them have appeared in A Beautiful Space and Rigorous.