My Small Envies
The girl at the grocery counter
who sees your polite smile.
The extra door key you trust
will be there if you need it.
The spoon you search for
when you need a spoon.
The books anticipated
in your Amazon basket,
and the one from the library
you wish you could keep.
The pen you try to keep track of.
And the alarm you sweep
your thumb over every morning
just to silence it.
Suzanne Jean Johanson lives in a yellow house with a black roof, which if on fire, she’d grab her dappled porcelain pony, her green ceramic elephant and her white-rimmed, dye-cast 1951 Ford truck. She’s been published in Antiphon.