brown eggs

after keying
in your special
bonus card
membership digits,
which happens
to be your phone
number,
the clerk tells
you that
today you saved
sixy-four
dollars
and seventy-nine cents
and have
earned three hundred
and forty one
gas points. he circles
this number
on the receipt
with a yellow
magic marker.
he asks you
with a weariness
not unlike a long
distance runner,
with shoulders
slumped, and miles to
go before the finish
line, if
there is anything
else he can do
for you.
did you find
everything you were
looking for?
it's a painful
experience these
days, trying
to buy a loaf of
bread, a gallon
of milk, a
dozen large
brown eggs.