My Oh My

My Oh My

by Demond Blake

I needed bread

really needed bread

wheat bread

there's two

cans of dolphin

free tuna in

the cupboard

but no

bread

I woke up wanting a tuna sandwich

bad

I hadn't wanted

a tuna sandwich

in 2 years

but since I broke

my leg I've

been filled

with all kinds

of weird wants

too many

to go into

bread goddamnit!

wheat bread!

I got up

washed

brushed

deodorized

dressed and

crutched to the store

it was around

11am yet the

store was packed

the fucking store was always

packed

I sighed and

crutched to

the bread aisle

wheat bread $1.09

was 79 cents a few

months ago

it was a rip off

but tuna sandwiches

had to have one

got the bread crutched to the

front

ten checkout stands

3 open

express closed

each stand had minimum

six people

I looked at them

could work the pity angle

I'm on crutches

I only have bread

they have carts

overflowing

with shit

they're gonna pay with credit card

check

I've got exact

change

there'd be talking involved

they'll ask what happened

I don't want to

talk about

it

I'm sick of talking

about it

I'm…4lbs of

rice for a

dollar!

I crutch over to the rice

get a plastic bag I

scoop, measure

scoop, measure

scoop, measure

4lbs

exactly

1 dollar

I'm about to crutch away when

the rice gets

caught on

the screw sticking

out of

my crutches

bag rips open

rice everywhere

christ

nothing's easy

I do it again

scoop, measure

etc

I double bag it

back to

checkout

they've opened the express lane

it's 7 deep

but no one

has more than

3 items

I crutch over

hit a slick spot

nearly face

plant

yet somehow manage

only dropping

bread

in line people look at

me

tell me to go ahead of

them

I don't have to say anything

except thanks

nearly falling did the

talking for

me

the pity angle

I'm in front

I pay

it's $2.09

4lbs of rice

1 loaf of wheat

bread

checkout lady bags

it

I start to crutch home

tuna

sandwiches

dolphin

safe

I crutch through the

alley

when a lady

runs up

demanding her soda

back

I don't have

her soda

only wheat

bread 4lbs

of rice

she's not old but she looks it

missing teeth

dirty blond

hair hanging over her

face

clothes well worn

but clean

like mine

I don't know what to tell her

she thinks

I have her

soda

I can't get away

I'm on

crutches

I've got

rice 4lbs

wheat bread

her man comes over

apologizes

to me

takes her

away

tells her he'll buy

her a

soda

I crutch home

get out the

tuna

open the fridge

for the

mayo

there is no mayo

can't make a

tuna sandwich

w/o mayo

I could go

back

but can't bring myself

to

once a day in a

grocery store

is all

I can

stand

I make rice instead

a little

butter

a bit of soy sauce

not bad

shit it's barely noon

I have the

rest of day

ahead of me

yet nothing

to do with

except…

I finish the rice then

crutch to

the liquor

store

king cobra 32 oz

99 cents

fuckin' hell

Demond Blake is a poet and novelist who moonlights as a Material Handler for Burlington Coat Factory in Colton,CA. He is currently working on his second novel "Sputnik" and his sixth book of poetry "Ladyluck is a Quadriplegic." http://slackass.wordpress.com/