December 31, 2010

New Year's Eve

everyone's asleep in the cafeteria

no holiday bonus
not even so much as a thank you note

the crowd files downstairs
good wholesome families
3 kids
paid vacation

the product
of Veuve Clicquot
and missionary sex

New Year's Eve
not even so much as a thank you note

they put on their white aprons
and move to the spaghetti bar

the poor
the beaten

sleep creases all over their faces

while the meatballs wait
plump and ready

© 2011 Lee Kitzis

The Man With the Sweet Potato Sandwich

I was on the train
during rush hour
and a man came on

he was eating
a sandwich
with what looked to be
some sort of sweet potatoey substance
packed inside

he yelled
"excuse me everybody!"

and then proceeded to swing
his giant backpack around

hitting people
in the stomach and arms

crushing businessmen
and old ladies

until finally
settling on me

like a dodo bird
nesting it's young

I expected him to move

but he didn't

he just stood there

pinning me
against the handrail

eating his radioactive
orange sandwich

staring into the middle distance

chewing

the chew

of a man on the cusp
of According to Jim
is a really funny show

and
I just shit my pants

not noticing

not caring

he was a god
for a second

then he moved

and it was gone

he was just a man

with crumbs on his lips

waiting on nothing in particular

waiting on the train

© 2010 Lee Kitzis

A UN Meeting in Aisle 17

Make it look pretty
he said

This is the grand opening

When I’m here

you’re gonna be facing your asses off

So we faced

me and the kid from Ghana

pulling the Fresh Burst Listerines
and Dove body bars out

he pulled
like his life depended on it

while the managers
smoked cigarettes
and talked about bowling

he pulled and pulled

for pennies

for his family back home

I pulled for rent

I was much slower

I liked the guy though

we were both pulling

while the rest of the world picked

it was the way it worked

it was the way it didn’t

© 2010 Lee Kitzis

Cleaning the Shelves

The old women on the laxative bottles dance

There’s a box of irritable bowel meds
with an ice cream cone on it

next to the ice cream cone it says
“vanilla twist”

next to that it says
“diarrhea”

I make my way to the “personal confidence” pads
when the muzak kicks in

I estimate I’ve inhaled about 3 grams of human skin cells

it must be 3:30

I check my cell phone clock

it’s 2:15

Depends
pour femmes

French is such a beautiful language

If you ask them why

why you have to do this

they’ll tell you

it must be done

if you ask them
for more money

they’ll tell you
it cannot be done

and the maxi-pads stay clean

your grandpa shits in his pants

and everyone thinks he was gardening

and you continue to inhale your forefathers
for a check that isn’t yours

You continue

with the bad music

and the dust

© 2010 Lee Kitzis

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