From a work in progress by Jon Hartmann

-Fuck that- she said.
I’ll never tell her I threw
out her grandmother’s pin and her cigarette roller
her silver fork and few grams of stale weed with a plastic cup.
All that shit in my room hovering like sarcastic parents,
I tossed them halfheartedly into a larger trash can
and they sat there with crumpled paper bags and empty bottles
regretfully shining in their sentimentality.
A few slaps on the back and a - you did the right thing bro -
and I’m on the lake, lake Michigan, glazed over by a
frozen brown organic shit crust, up to my knees in snow.
-Of course I haven’t had time to fucking talk to you, I’ve been
so busy, god Jon,-
Absurdity, I saw a dead dog by the lake and didn’t know whether
to laugh or to sigh. I laughed though and someone looked at me strangely.
I went to see Andy and he was smoking around his produce as usual.
-Check out these fucking kiwis man! Fucking take a look at them! Hold on a sec bro,-
An asian couple walks in the door
-You know brussel sprouts are the same species as broccoli?-
-You don’t say?-
And he was back, door open and spewing smoke.
-I’m going to turn the whole fucking thing into a bar man, people don’t care
about fruit, they just don’t give a damn and I’m making no money.-
I know what he means,
I rearrange some sugarcane propped up against the wall.
-People eat shit man no one wants good fruit-
I know what he means.
I was walking with Perry and a man with mismatched shoes
asked for 50cents.
-Ok-
-Hey it’s 2 dollars to ride the bus-
-Ok-
-Hey man I got kids that need to ride-
-Just take it all- he said and threw 8 dollars into his hands.
I like giving people money Perry says.
-I could NEVER be in a relationship with you-
-GOOD- she choked
It’s good I can never get that pin back.