The Cheap Sweet Stuff

you can always find the junkies, whores, cops and poets
at the donut shop
they've all got a weakness for the cheap, sweet stuff
sucking the sugar off their thumb and forefingers
white powder in the corner of their mouths
eyes rolling in the back of their heads
as the eyelids slowly drop closed
staying up too late
working too many hours
under strenuous conditions
all providing a service
all but the junkies that is
the donut shop owners are almost always korean
with some gaudy little shrine over the register
while some fruity incense burns and blends
with the smell of fried dough and stale smoke
a 70's cop show flickers on the black and white t.v
with tinfoil and a coat hanger
like some alien stork fallen from the sky
they fled their country for this
a better life
their little slice of the pie
and each of us under these buzzing fluorescent lights
are taking some kind of comfort in the others presence
all milling about in the american dream

NH