10 Cents Off

Marlon Brando works at the full-serve Sunoco

     in Morrisville, Vermont. 22 he wears

a red hoodie under a blue camouflage jacket

     jeans halfway down his ass.

All eyes and lips, this one.

I’ll check your Advantage Card, he says.           

     Will you now.

Swipe.

No, Really

I’m sorry you feel
that way. I’m sorry about
the rash. Sorry the roast
was rare, sorry I ruined your
mother’s tupperware.

Sorry I left the clothes
on the line. Sorry
it rains in August. Sorry
the tourists are still here.

I’m sorry I waited so long. Sorry
the utilities are in your name. Sorry I locked
you out. Sorry I let you in.

Sorry the crackers are too salty. Sorry the TV’s broke.
Again. Sorry thunder scares the dog and sorry she
can no longer climb the stairs.

Sorry I eat too much. Sorry I sigh too loud. Sorry
I don’t clean toilets.

Sorry you’re not allowed in Vermont.

Specifically: Sorry for Hurricane Irene. Sorry for
botulism. Sorry you’ll miss Big Bang Theory
and sorry you’re losing a kidney. The dog’s on her
own.

Young Woman in a Long Black Dress Standing on a Barnacled Piling

He will swim across as many clean waterways as he can. He will coast
             by white lilacs the high keys of a piano, no hands, eyes closed.
He will let the ghost of the ghost bike fix his flat tire. He will add
             another rejection to the pile. He will have roast beef on rye from
Angel Food Deli. Lobsters, he says, I forgot to say I’m afraid of lobsters.

This changes everything.