two for one

it's a two for one
sale
at the fireworks stand.
the man with missing fingers
and a patch
on his eye
says something in another
language,
I say what?
and he slows down his
verbiage, saying
two for one. you buy one
sparkler and you another,
free.
he's from Alabama,
he tells me.
drove his goods all the ways
up in his trailer hitched
to his pick up
to sell fireworks.
snakes, roman
candles, sparklers.
can't sell anything that explodes
anymore, he says,
shaking his head,
the grey pony tail swinging
in the cigarette smoke
behind the counter.
or anything that shoots
up in the air, he says.
damn govment,
it's the man keeping us
down, although
I do like our new leader.