help is on the way

please remove everything
from the belt
the disembodied voice
says and begin again.
the light blinks
above you, but no one
sees it, no one comes
with their special badge
to swipe
and make the world right again.
you start over, scanning
each item.
finding the bar code,
unwrinkling each package,
making the ant like
lines straight.
you search the screens for
gala apples,
then peppers, not bell,
not red, not green,
but jalapeno. not under j,
that would be too easy.
the belt rolls them back
towards you, past
the red lasered
line. everything you just
scanned returns to
the starting point.
an id is necessary for
this item, the voice says,
please wait, help is on
the way,
but it's ice berg
lettuce you yell back
at the top of your lungs.
you open up a bottle of wine
as you stand there
waiting, turning the bottle
up to your lips,
watching birds
fly around the store.