what is taking so long? someone asks
with plastic card in hand
I will still hand over supplemental checks
like nails that board up a boat
I call them life savers out of need
even for these staples
while a scan and rescan of each item
ensures eligibility because even if WIC stickers
are misplaced on the shelves the register
has the final say and I am ready so ready
to turn around if someone gives me the drill
or again remarks it must be nice to get free food
I’ll iron out their words with my defenses
hey I’m a working professor and father
adding how I qualify as poor how my wife and I
were drilled at the food assistance office
hammered by every question
from someone who speaks in the tone
of a kindergarten teacher so my boys
will have food at the end of the month
unlike so many children in this town
even the retired chaplain who overheard
kids could get a free lunch
said why don’t they get a job
Dennis Etzel Jr. lives in Topeka, Kansas with Carrie and the boys where he teaches English at Washburn University. His work has appeared in Denver Quarterly, Indiana Review, BlazeVOX, Fact-Simile, 1913: a journal of poetic forms, 3:AM, Tarpaulin Sky, DIAGRAM, and others.
This poem is from our first print collection
of poetry, “Thought For Food”, an anthology
benefiting Denver Food Rescue. To support
our fundraiser, please visit this link.
South Broadway Ghost Society 