the sieve and the sand

of places that people go
and the things people say
to sound better to themselves

recalling three members of the
red hat society eating high-
end cajun food at an overpriced
restaurant and saying repeatedly

“tar-jshay” you shop at “tar-jshay?”
oh i shop at “tar-jshay” too! how i
love “tar-jshay” i’m so happy that you
too love “tar-jshay”

of cheap goods we cannot help
but love and loathe shopping
elsewhere when we can buy off-brand
cornflakes for 9cents/ounce

1 dollar
1 box

chew on cardboard but refresh with
off-brand honey by “whose-it-a-honey”

1 dollar
1 bear

of the things i call places
because they make me laugh

recalling two members of my family
sitting in a free car in a wealthy
neighborhood laughing at ourselves
and our fascination with

tarshit
and
wal-shart