retirement

i see my retired friends

at the grocery

store

reading

the backs of tuna cans.

perusing

oranges with a squeeze.

looking for the most

ripe tomato.

i see the coupons

in their hands.

or the receipts

adding up the cost

to see if the clerk

got it right.

i see them going into

the library

and coming out with nothing.

or down at the lake

with a loaf

of bread to feed the ducks,

now fat and overfed.

i keep waiting

to hear the gunshots

signaling,

it's over.