in a safeway checkout line
a husband and wife
she argues
with the checker about
a two for one deal on something
steaks, i don’t know
i’m too busy focusing on the man’s eyes
crazy and glassy
i’ve seen them before
meth eyes
brain damage eyes
eyes too open
stuck on the surprise setting
but so unfocused
a truck could run him down and he wouldn’t know
until he tried to stand up
yet
he is the one not arguing
saying okay as he emerges from a fog
and pays the bills
while his wife angrily shoves food
in the bags
and walks off
arizona (poem 20160511)
Words and Feathers 
“stuck on the surprise setting”…(K)
Thanks. I was surprised too.
Such a vivid scene–and surprising.
a whole life lived up to that moment in time captured in the story…moving away from the expected with a topic like meth and going somewhere new, fresh, “he is the one not arguing / saying okay as he emerges from a fog / and pays the bills” – there is still the core of who he was still struggling to in spite of the meth.
I don’t even know if that’s what the deal was with him. Honestly, he probably just had the crazy and was worn out from the heat.