Retail

(Published July 2021)

The voices, the people

their names

overflow in my ears

until my mouth is full

with all their demands

and my hands cramp up

with understanding

that I am one building block

in a bridge, and my body

wishes to flow in a river

to float and pull at the clouds

and create myself a dream,

soft and delicate

to wrap around me

a barrier between me

and the loud tidal waves

of their voices.