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Saturday, November 29, 2008

TO THE MAXX AT WAL-MART

by James Penha


"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed,
people were yelling `I've been on line since yesterday morning,'"
[a witness] said. "They kept shopping."



From the first crisp November morning tackle
that brought me down onto the stairwell floor
strewn with the glass confetti of firecrackered doors,
I felt proud with every boot to my teeth,
heels grounding down my eyes
and kneecaps, toes hummered into my groin,
again and again, I felt proud with every explosion
of my spleen and the unfurling of my guts
like leftover Turkey stuffing
to give my life even temporarily
at a minimum wage to jump-start the economy
for 9-11 pilgrims and terror warriors
in need of black-light bargains
on this most American holiday.


James Penha edits The New Verse News.
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