stuck inside of ikea

after getting my three hundred dollars
tax return in the mail
i decided i needed a new set of furniture
for my house,
so I went to ikea. unfortunately
I got stuck in there
overnight. i didn't understand
the closing announcement
on the P.A. system
because it was in Swedish.
it was scary. i was by myself
and had no one to lead me around.
I lost my way,
not following the yellow
arrows and got caught inside
when the doors sealed shut,
and the iron gates clanged
together.
I wandered for a while
with my little three inch pencil
and order paper,
smelling candles.
touching the fabrics of itchy
rugs and curtains. saying ooh and ahh
when rubbing the shiny
red kitchen cabinets, seeing
how nicely the drawers
closed by themselves. I couldn't
get over that.
to wile the hours away
I tried to put together
a seventy-nine piece
desk with four drawers
and a foldout table top,
marked genius level
of construction,
but it was missing
several pieces and i lost
my hex wrench
in a barrel of bag clips
sitting nearby.
finally
I got tired as the night
wore on, but
I couldn't find
a bed that didn't collapse
under my own weight,
or a chair to sit on that
didn't wobble, having a screw
or bolt, or caster, or peg
coming loose.
I set my phone and keys
on the shelf of a
Klondike cabinet
and it fell over,
striking me in the forehead,
injuring my knee. I limped on
through the store until
I found meatballs
in the cafeteria, so it
wasn't all lost, mashed potatoes
and a cold tub of mixed
vegetables, all unfrozen
and heated up that week.
I ate my fill,
but I began to neigh
as the night went on,
stampeding across
the floor, galloping from
aisle to aisle
knocking over tens of dollars worth
of lamps and glasses,
ornate mirrors,
trying to get free.