Super Savior

super savior

a threeway tie in aisle nine;
(you know the corner that I mean).
where juices meet the bakery shelves,
we would-be savers got ourselves,
bent dairy-bound, stuck in between.

“excuse me,” awkward, mumbled toward
the shape across the sales rack, while
our eyes fix on a single point
above the other’s shoulder joint,
our chapped lips forcing frozen smiles.

but no one sees the faces, as
we mutely pass without a glance;
reversing, turning, rolling on
toward milk and cream and parmesan,
a meaningless, unspoken dance.

and everywhere, the faces stare
with vacant looks from empty eyes
that say, “I’m just trying to get home,
to other numbnesses I know.”
and thoughts start settling in my mind:

perhaps it is that we’ve forgot
the way we dreamed things might have been;
that this is not the life we chose,
but oe’r this revelation rose
the banal noise of life within

this rhythmic racket, ancient carts
off rattling over cracking floors.
I cannot help but simply think,
(betwixt the breads and sugared drinks)
that we were meant for something more.