At Cary Towne Mall: Kim Suffers Poem by Dennis Ryan

June 8,2008

- for my wife Kim Ryan

Kim suffers twelve hours a day
six days a week, her six hours
working on Sunday her day off.
Still, mall security, the Cary police
won't let her rest. They manipulate
lighting, noise, movement, cut the electricity
to irritate, antagonize, and condition her.
They open her freezers at night after the mall
closes or early in the morning before it opens,
and steal and rearrange merchandise to try
to confuse her.But Kim's not confused:
she's smarter and tougher than they realize.