Just Another Day

A discarded ticket stub doing

somersaults down the street.

An old man turns and hobbles

away on his aluminum cane.

The weather threatens rain today.

Yellow buses are filled with

children off to school again.

Bills on the kitchen table have

yet to be paid. A tick finds its

meal, and buries its head in the

thigh of a raccoon as the sun

rises over the swampy lagoon.

Shoe laces are tied in knots

which are damn near impossible

to remove. Odds are Starbucks

will serve lattes again today.

The barista calls out your name.

The old woman with clacking teeth

struggles with her bagel while mum-

bling profanities. All at once seems

everything is happening. You rose

this morning to a rude awakening.

There was a winner to last night’s

playoff game, and of course there

had to be a loser too. Always next

season, you tell yourself. And a

glimmer of hope runs through you,

that a change in team management

will be made. You’ve never been a

fan of lattes, and order a grande

dark roast instead. You chuckle as

the old woman’s false teeth fall out

onto her paper plate. You should

have had a V-8.

Chris Hanch 10-16-19