Cram Groceries

cram groceries
back of car
slam door shut
"Dammit!"
catch bag in door
open door
groceries spill out
bag of grits falls and spills open
two eggs break
cascade over the gray cardboard container
bottle of beer fragments and foams over

wind blows coat over head
can't see
swing my arm
slam! The door shuts.
"oh god" coat tail caught in door
can't see
tail of coat up over my head
purse caught in coat

icy wind whips my pajama top open
loose buttonholes free the buttons
struggle
squirm
drop car keys
pull arm out of pajama sleeve
feel for purse under coat
pajama top falls
in oil drippings on asphalt

only blackness under coat
"Shit!"
"Mam there are children here, watch your language!"

"Help me someone!"
pull arm out from coat
other arm caught
purse falls from sweaty hand
spilled contents

tampax
rusty paper clips
open lipstick covered with tobacco
2 kernels of popcorn
rumpled papers with scribbled phone numbers
2 peanuts in shell
a caramel in dirty paper wrapper
a half sucked up cough drop rewrapped in sticky paper
a yellow pencil #2 with broken lead

feel cold air on nipple
frantically reach down for pajama top
pick up
oil dripping off

other hand grabs
handful of air
hold top in teeth
brush hair back from face
oil smears across nose

shake keys loose from shirt
sneer at crowd
turn key in door oily hands
key jams
furiously turn it hard
key breaks off in lock
"Jesus Christ"
"Now she's bringing the lord in to it. Watch your language, no
wonder you have bad luck.", the same woman shouts

"Well thats it!", lunge forward
"I'll knock the^#@ out of her!"

skid on oil
fall down
pancake like breasts exposed
worn and dirty slip on mules
socks that don't match

My daughter's teacher drives up to park
sees me
leaves immediately.