I didn’t murder the clerk
even though he
threw my change
like I was a beggar,
even though he barked,
Check your receipt
after I asked
when my package
would arrive,
even after he
gave me the finger
when I wished him
happy returns.

I head into
the frozen
bleary-eyed afternoon
dreaming of
lovers
I never kissed,
cities
I never visited,
planets
I never orbited,
to the room
of my own
its cinderblock walls
a passionate gray.
I flip the light,
get lost
in the silence,
then wait for my next
adventure to
begin.