so I looked to see what I had.
I opened my cabinets
opened them wide.
A box of pudding
some bouillon cubes
a three year old can
of sweet potatoes.
An empty can of Pam non-stick spray.
I wondered who Pam was.
the inventor?
the inventor’s wife?
What kind of statement are you making
when you refer to your wife as non-stick?
And was there any symbolism in the word spray?
Checked the fridge.
Not good.
old jar of grape jelly
so old it was moldy on top.
Old jar of dill pickles
too old
or are they?
Maybe the pickle juice preserves them forever.
If they were sweet pickles
maybe I’d eat them.
I suppose that’s why the dills are still here.
I already ate all the sweet pickles.
I gave up
started walking to the grocery store.
What I really wanted
were some pinto beans.
I’ll get some pickle relish too.
That’s the way my dad taught me to eat them.
With pickle relish on them.
Never met anybody else
who ate them that way.
Most people dice onions
to put on their pinto beans.
Did he come up with that on his own?
pickle relish on beans?
Or did somebody teach him too?
I picked up a can
Looking for dents
turned it this way and that
Looking for dents.
Out of the corner of my eye
I saw a man
coming towards me.
Assumed he’d go on by
but he didn’t.
Good grief.
What are the chances
somebody else wants pinto beans too?
at the same time I do?
I stepped aside
to make room for the man
thinking
I hope he hurries up
grabs a can
and moves on.
But he didn’t.
He didn’t move on.
He was standing right next to me.
I glanced over.
He wasn’t looking at the pinto beans.
He wasn’t looking at any beans at all.
He was looking at me.
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