13th
CHANGE POSITIONS
DAY
by Patrick Lucy
The petticoat fit, Michelle swam
across her daughter and lifted suspenders
too high for her son to complain. Outside,
a receipt printed itself too loudly
and for too long
and was thrown out anyway.
It had been a day.
The lines on the road to work giving way
to the fruit pulled from the disposal at night.
The normal amount of salt, which is too much.
Ditto with hellos, said Conner. Less the time going to work
and the time coming back. Rings of condensation
on the good red leather armchair and the roaring fire
when Olivia sat on the remote. Terror Alerts.
Standing naked
in front of the running tap and mirror,
toothbrush cocked,
Roger squeezed his tube of toothpaste like a man
who has a lot of toothpaste. Debbie thought
how it had been a day, how
it could be tomorrow.
