early birds
it is morning now, at least
according to the schedule roughly
tacked behind the service desk
seven birds nesting in the half-lit
letters K and O peer down as if
measuring me for something
inside, they are changing the price
tags so that I can’t tell if I am coming
or going let alone count the cost
in the bakery I ask if they have
garlic bread yet and Ava who is old
enough to be my mother yells at me
that I should make it myself but I just grin
and yell back that the night shift are a bunch
of slackers and suddenly we are friends
the only cart I can find keeps shocking
me but the checkout girl just shrugs
and says yeah some of them do that
at five a.m. this store is a wilderness,
fluid and fierce and fresh, and how I
love to scratch among these early birds
a little word picture to share with friends over at the dVerse Poet’s Pub.
Penguin Poems 
Early mornings are magic and wild. Love that ending! The exchange with Ava gave me a big smile-gotta love those bakery women
at 5 am the store is a wilderness…ha sure is…been there…some fun detail…love that you know the bakers name and notice the birds….also my fav bit…
inside, they are changing the price
tags so that I can’t tell if I am coming
or going let alone count the cost
I love the shocking cart – and the nonchalance of the check-out girl. Very clever, vivid scene so well described. k.
This was bril – you captured that weird magic of being in the store early as the birds. You found magic in the otherwise mundane! Loved it.
I’ll have to take your word on the early morning wilderness. the only way I’d ever experience it would be if I were to still be awake at that hour.
(on a side note: now I feel a bit like having garlic bread.)
Oh yeah, gotta watch out for those shocking carts! 🙂
Loved this!!