I Go To The Hardware Store

a brief respite

When the world is going crazy,

which is how it feels anytime

I spend too much of my time

looking at the news slash social media

slash glowing screens slash information,

which I’ve been doing for the past week or so,

I go to the hardware store.

Because at the hardware store,

I can feel, for a few minutes, that

maybe the world is not falling apart,

as much as these people screaming at each other

about “your side” and “our side” on TV news clips

have very nearly led me to believe.

I walk in the sliding doors,

someone asks me if they can help,

I admit that yes, I do need help,

finding a metric tape measure,

or some 3-in-1 multi-purpose oil,

or some metal thing that I can hardly describe

but it attaches to another metal thing

which attaches to another metal thing,

and if I attach all those metal things together,

one small problem in my life will be solved,

and that’s not gonna save the world,

what with all the people killing people,

and people trying to kill those people,

and people saying more people should be killed,

and maybe I can’t do much about that today,

but I can spend a little time of my day

and fix that thing in my house that needs fixing,

with help from the folks at the hardware store,

and that will save a little part of my little world,

and tip my mental scale a tiny bit back

towards something that feels like sanity.

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