Never Enough
the man behind the counter
heaped his scale
with handfuls of my pain
he plopped all my suffering
onto his triple beam
then looked at me disappointedly
he had the question
is that all you got
printed clearly on his face
I turned my pants pockets inside out
and shrugged in defeat
I need to crunch some numbers
he said as he pressed buttons
on a texas instruments calculator
I shuddered when I realized
how routine this all was for him
his clicks were focused
sharp and precise
I started to tap my foot
then stopped
when I realized I looked
visibly nervous
he grunted disapprovingly
at the TI-83 screen
I twitched
you're short
he barked
in one swift movement
he knocked all my bad memories
onto his floor
instantly I dropped to my knees
to gather up my stress
as quick as I could
I stuffed my pockets full
scooped the rest up in my arms
and was already stepping toward the door
when the shopkeeper hollered
you damn time wasters
you delusional sons-of-bitches
you all think absolution comes cheap
it doesn't
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