Can I draw out a line
with enough viscosity
to envelop,
to cherish?
To illustrate the peace I’ve found in the reverberation of my own footsteps,
finally,
after being shown my echo wasn’t the only one?
O, oh yearning
for a letter round enough, wide enough
to contain the space we invisibly, silently, share
with limbs where we can hang tensions
so carefully crafted -- like lightening,
like static electricity --
between images with edges so sharp
only unpromised reception
driven by a distant pulse
can soften them into dreams,
feathers, things we can live with;
something tangible
for when we defy linguistics,
submerge in liquid sensation I cannot encapsulate,
wish as I might to gift wrap it for you.

(A thank-you the only way I know to the poets of E2 - and etouffee in particular - for taking the edge off better than any substance or ear on earth)

I’ve never written a day log before, but what I saw today at work is something that I strongly believe merits a day log.

I’m a cashier at a supermarket, sure, many people say it’s not the most exciting job in the world, but it pays the bills, and if you look at the small things, it is never, ever boring. Today, well, this wasn’t just a small thing.

The way our store works is that each register has a neighbor, such that 1 and 2 are back to back, etc. Between the two cashiers are a counter, and a drawer for each cashier to put his or her slips in. When I opened the drawer adjacent to Register 6 this morning, I didn’t expect to see anything unusual. People leave things there all the time; hand lotion, notebooks, lighters, pens, keys, make-up, so seeing random odds and ends is nothing out of the usual. This time though, the two little packets that I saw sort of looked like condoms. I laughed it off and didn’t even look at them, cause come on, despite the amount of kids we have working at the store, who in their right mind would leave condoms at a register?  I think strange thoughts all the time, and passed it off as just that.

The day went on. Around 10:30, my neighbor and I both went to open our drawers at the same time, but I got to mine first. I said “Look at these and guess what I thought they were when I saw them?” She looked at the packets, then looked at me and asked if I think they really are condoms. I answered “The thought crossed my mind, but…”

By then, she had already flipped them over, and behold, they were both Durex Condoms. Even though we are both adults we shared a massive OH MY GOD moment, before deciding what needs to be done; we had to inform the Front End Manager. Why? Because if we didn’t, people might be under the assumption that we left the condoms there, which of course wouldn’t make sense being that neither of us are the sort to leave stray condoms lying around, but anyway, it was sort of a ‘cover our asses’ thing, as well as a ‘share with the cool boss for a laugh’, of course.

The Front End Manager found it almost as amusing as we did, and the Floor Supervisor was in complete hysterics. This is one of those things that none of us will ever forget.

I don’t think it can be said anymore that Sundays are the most mundane day at the store.

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