‘Know this’ she said
‘I shall be with you’
Or so I recall
As the blue light
Special blinks
Reaching the case
I quickly put the item
In my pocket
A secret treat only
K-Mart can provide
Walking slowly toward
The front doors
All are watching
Knowing of my sin
Feeling their judgment
And eyes upon me
Perhaps none are watching
None judging
My criminal act of
Rebellion and romance
Going unrecognized
I cross through the doors
No alarms ring and nothing
Notes my passing into
The dingy grey parking lot
I stroll across the lot
Feeling triumphant in
My small success and
Heading across the railroad
Tracks and past the half
Burnt out sign of the
Burger King buzzing like
A sad dying bug
Drunk sitting on the bench
At the train stop knows nothing
Of what has transpired
And I pass him quickly
This is one of my finest moments
I think of what it will change
Walking through the neighborhood
I feel different and walk with
More purpose and style.
Coming to her house I see her on
The porch sitting there and waiting
And I walk up and hand her
The bounty which she has desired
She takes it and looks at it and smiles
And says, ‘It is the wrong one’
Mortification my old companion
Returns quietly and crawls up my spine
Can I do it again I wonder?
And looking at her I know the answer
Gene G. McLaughlin 2005
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