Safeway Love Poem

There’s a pigeon strutting along

in front of the soup bar

inside the Safeway

Some little kids scream with delight

as they try to chase it out

the automatic doors

but it keeps running away from them.

The doors keep opening and closing

as right outside, a homeless man

crouches on the curb

with a full case of bottled water

unscrewing the caps one by one

and pouring all the water

into the sewer grate

Across the street, a couple of guys

try to sell me a case of Corona

but I’ve got my container of soup in one hand

and a bouquet of flowers in the other

the third-cheapest ones they had

because even though it’s not payday yet

I just couldn’t wait