the dead sea scroll

the clerk,

young as young can be,

peach fuzzed,

and exhausted from

being up so early,

searches

the newspaper

for a bar code, 

turning it side to side,

with a quizzical

look on his blank face,

but it's oblivious he's never

seen one of these. 

this ancient scroll

from some dead sea,

so i tell him, try the back

at the very bottom,

and he finds it.

then searches the paper,

section by section,

looking for more.

i stop him and tell him,

that's all there is.

there are no more.