The mother loaded the multi-storey packages on the jerking belt
She made the cashier scan the soda flats, the giant case of single serving chips,
And then picked through the remaining items,
Registering how each box or can increased her cost.
She pushed the cashier's hand from the last six items
The little girl began a protest, perfunctory, eyeing the hot dogs and eighteen egg carton,
Now abandoned to the care of the cashier
When her mom dug around for her last dollars
The girl swung her arms around the chips
Hugging the awkward sharp box, and pressing a chin dent in the filmy plastic.
We were next. We didn't buy the rejected eggs
And run after the family in the parking lot.
All the way home with our bok choy and baguette and hairballcare cat food
We imagined that we had.
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