Tuesday, October 11, 2011

cigarettes and ten cent dreams

scorcher, today
sit on the curb, kick off my flip flops

back to the filmy, dime store window
i live for these 15 minutes
every 4 hours
smoke hovers around me
not even a slight breeze for it to dissolve in

highway sounds mix with wails
momma tells her it’ll just be a second
i nudge a condom wrapper with my toe
how the hell did it get in the middle of a parking lot?

shirt stuck to my back
don’t care
10 minutes left

she comes back outside
slaps the kid
screams stop

that’s a relief

get a whiff of greasy chinese next door
finger sticky change in my pocket
food or cigarettes?

suck in the last bit
exhale slowly
mash it on the ground

5 minutes
enough time to walk across the street
and bargain for another pack

a girl's gotta eat, right?
i can finish him off in a minute
and still get some chinese

2 minutes

it’s ridiculous how i live for these 15 minutes

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