Four Thousand Kisses

Written: 2024

Thursday afternoon crawls slowly,
blinds left shut five days a week
open with all the enthusiasm
HUD can muster
as the cleansing of the air begins-
lift, flip and fold,
refilling cups as the
latest aches and pains lay told,
beige halls stretch the goal
for miles,
another trial in an increasingly
seemingly
redeemingly
futile attempt
to retain connection with an
outside world,
anything worth more than
a Sunday Sale-
“Have You Seen Me?”

White walls wail
with the echo of another
Stouffer’s
Lean Cuisine
Jimmy Dean dream,
piping hot and
kilowatt clean.