Free Samples (a poem for your Monday)

A poem by Meg Johnson- appeared in the Blood Lotus literary journal.

FREE SAMPLES

Little pink spoon
Crushed Oreos, cookie dough, strawberry ice cream, waffle cone, brownie
chunks…

Little pink spoon
go ahead honey
just put your paper
doll in the blender
she'll be fine

Little pink spoon
Halloween
Fourth grade
Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz
In my old first communion dress
Blue bow around my waist, another in my hair
High heeled silver sequined shoes borrowed
From the dress-up bin of my friend Erin
Stuffed dog in a basket
All the neighbors, young and old
Said the same thing
You look so much like Dorothy, but
Why aren't you wearing ruby red slippers?
Sigh
I'm Dorothy from the book
Not the movie
I pitied these people

Little pink spoon
At the airport shop I buy magazines
With covers of Michael Jackson
Back home, outside the apartment building
Six 70's style mini fridges, pale green,
Take up space in the parking lot

Little pink spoon
Three hours into riding the Greyhound. She didn't even notice the Amishcouple
across the aisle a few rows up. The song "I Do Both Jay and Jane" playing on
her iPod.

Little pink spoon
Some things I can't relate to: doughy blond women, the phrase pet parent,
understanding geometry, disliking thongs…

Little pink spoon
If I make a Nutella sandwich
If I count my perfume bottles
(7 lines later…)
If I read my horoscope
Talk about sex with someone I barely know
(64 lines later…)
If I contemplate Asher Roth lyrics
(18 lines later…)
I can almost forget what
You did to me last week

Little pink spoon
Yes. I do enjoy the outdated
pop songs of Ace of Base.
And I do drink MGD 64, the lightest
of the light beers.
Guess what?
I'm a girl.
If you don't like it,
you can stop looking up my skirt.

Little pink spoon
Sometimes dance feels like an abusive husband I got married to when I was too
young.

Little pink spoon
The well preserved baby boomer couple goes to cut down the dead tree. The
husband makes the cut and it is a lucky one. They peer into the hollow stump,
four baby raccoons wrestling around.
Why does the body know before the brain?

Little pink spoon
Sugar, sugar, sugar.