aisle 9

isn't she cute?
states the woman with rose colored cheeks

as she leans her hefty bosom over 
the grocery cart bar to pinch my daughter's cracker 

crumb filled cheeks
the woman's bubblegum hued sponge rollers and neck folds 

block the light as her discolored
jewelry clanks against cleavage

i've seen some of the cutest little colored 
children in the grocery store today, she says 

to anyone and no one
well, you're a color too

my daughter says lifting 
another cheese cracker to her lips

no, i'm white
the lady answers laughing with a phlegm-tinged voice

oh . . . you look pink to me
my daughter says as she watches this great, great, 

great granddaughter of the Mayflower pull 
her hand back 

as if bitten