I am afraid
I may come back
next lifetime
as a cashier
at Office Depot.
My affection
for office supplies
is that great.
I stand in front of
the racks of pens
like I am at a museum
and this is art.
I weave the wide aisles
stalking inventions,
the thing to make me marvel
at how I ever lived
without it.
I buy a new stapler:
it overhauls
my day.
All of it,
a promise
of blank slates
and an obedient mind.
Weapons
to slay the
fog.
I read that people
steal billions of dollars
of office supplies
from their employers
every year.
We all know
it’s not the paper punchers
and pushpins they’re after;
they’re just trying
to pocket
a bit of
hope.