heat wave part i: there amid frugality

as i walked into the glare of the sun in the parking lot, i realized i still clutched lightly her dignity in my sweating palm. i turned, and the sun fired off the closed glass doors like one of those neat camera tricks in my glasses. the grimy radar doors reluctanted apart. i'd seen her last standing against the cold cases in the freezer aisles, smearing the fog on the case with her sweat-soaked wifebeater, her skin moist and flushed after having walked through this heat wave. she'd mentioned wanting blue berries for the way they reminded her of the fields of her father's house, out in the woods were the weird people lived and rode horses to school. i could just picture the berries bursting under her teeth, the hematic juice staining her cheeks. her dignity squirmed a bit in my sweaty grip, so i picked up pace. i threw my head side to side up every aisle but she seemed gone. she'd talked about her dignity with intimidating pride, and i knew how she'd weep realizing my accidental thievery.

2009 in 09 pictures.