Sears

consumer bliss front door hide & seek amidst chest freezers seventy-five plasmas mariah blows kisses i once received promotional donkey kong folder i figured ticket to popularity but never impressed the abercrombie set it had a jungle and everything

Original Cookie

hugged mom’s leg she said someday you’ll prefer friends i said no that couldn’t be she said you’ll feel differently when you’re older but even when i malled as an adolescent it was in service of sweetness before bullying began

Fountain

synthetic sea breeze oh the aquamarine coins mating winks track lighting chlorine siren imagined pocketing prison city wishes of caribbean sand

Minivan Contest

town & country a glamorous name suggested european vineyards not potholed marlboro coats even chrysler accented english gothic cathedral no white trash honks just holy gongs mark the hour dad said it had transmission issues it’ll always be a decoration

Arcade

mom played galaga with dad on dates a skill to engage a future wife learned years later no beating the game only survive until stage 255 and the game assumes you should have died and melts down called a kill screen like capitalism i said but she ghosted me at the altar i made a joke said she gave no quarter

---

Image: “Oasis of Moss Elephant” by Jeffrey H. MacLachlan