measurer of what is measureless
the pallets are ready
the dock trucks are ready
the shipping containers are ready
the tractor trailers are ready
the container car trains are ready
the container ships are ready
the supply chain is ready
the advertising campaign is ready
the wide aisles are ready
shiny with speechlessness
ashen with white light at 9pm
humming and flickering above parents with children
trying to buy groceries and find someone to take the kids
in the 90 minutes between 2 full time jobs
while politicians retch and fart from the flat screen near the pharmacy
“you’re poor because you’re not working hard enough”
their glib smiles delivering the end product of this supply chain the final mile
a wage of starvation paid to hard working men and women
a wage of never seeing their children grow up
a wage of missing school board meetings
a wage of canceled doctor’s appointments
this supply chain of shame carried, worn, pushed and pulled
the final few feet, hours, seconds, inches, days, and nights
by the little bodies of children forced to care for themselves
while from a flat screen in the break room at 3am a pundit declares
“kids need a mom and dad to be there”
measurer of what is measureless
there is an accounting far beyond profit and loss
there are dreams that won’t flat pack
there are ideas that float over aisles and rail yards
there are hard workers that never walk away
there are words that burn in the dark after closing time
