Greg

Greg has a tiny dress shirt

and tiny dress pants

his tiny hands
move across the calendar
filled with small decisions

he is angry

angry at his job
angry at the traffic
angry at his internet connection

angry at the fact that he has to shave his head
to cover up the fact that he’s bald

Every time he puts his name-tag on
his heart clenches like a fist

he carries it in his hands
as he moves through the tampon aisle
like an SS officer

searching for you

with something worse than a gun

he sees his name duct taped across every sign

Greg has lost his mind

he is a walking grocery store

when he finds you

he extends his hand

and gives you
what he has

it’s extra hours

you shrink 5 inches
your hair falls out

Now you’re Greg

a walking grocery store

always open

making small decisions

with your tiny hands

© 2010 Lee Kitzis

Winners

They flock to the lottery counter at Jewel

Sweat stained instant win tickets
cracked like a parched desert floor

The geriatrics in kitten sweaters

the bed-headed Indians
with tired eyes

reeking of B.O.

worse than the homeless

those who haven’t been spit out

waiting
in the mouth of the lion

buying the scam

fuuuuck
they say

give me three more Diamond Dazzlers

then they walk outside

sit on the bench

light a cigarette
and scratch

while the jaw tightens

and the tongue works its magic

© 2010 Lee Kitzis

5:01 P.M. at the Museum and Waiting

I'm doing a crossword puzzle

in about 30 minutes I'm going to get off work

get on the train

meet my parents

and drive another 30 minutes

to watch
my grandmother die

I shouldn't go

not
that I don't love my grandmother

I just never visited her
in the twilight of her years

not out of spite

just that she lived in Florida

to go now

seems almost insulting

when she finally arrived
in Illinois

she weighed

just over
a hundred pounds

and didn't know
who we were

there's no cure for that

like the fly
buzzing around my head

22 across
on the tip of my tongue

there's no cure
for it

doing
what it does best

© 2010 Lee Kitzis