A.J. Huffman, 1/16/2017

Current Occupation: Nanny/Writer
Former Occupation: Paralegal
Contact Information: A.J. Huffman’s poetry, fiction, haiku, and photography have appeared in hundreds of national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, and Offerta Speciale, in which her work appeared in both English and Italian translation.  

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Inbox Influx

My inbox is full.  There was
a morning influx.  Possibly acidic.
It is straining my capacity (for sanity?).  More
are seeping in.  Some are repeating on me.
Belch!
That’s better.

Retail

Can I help you?
Can I dress you?
Can I get you to think?
Just for a moment.
Here, let me pick something out for you.
Let me pick something out of you.
Like the tact you lost
when you stepped in the door.
Or the manners 
you probably never had to begin with.
Not that it matters
to you, at least.
I already have your money, that you throw 
at me in stacks.  Spending
like Monopoly.  Without regret.
It’s all a game.  You are buying 
my servitude, my smiles, and my lies.
The ones I need to tell to survive.
The ones you need to hear 
to do the same, then you can smile,
and forget to thank me,  
walk out the door,
then next few seconds of your life
tucked quietly, but tightly, in the crook of your arms.