The Baboon Is Eating Strawberries

By Julien Poirier

The baboon is eating strawberries
expired on the shelf
of the Ft. Bragg Safeway.
A coastal landscape
with waves
like inexpertly torn tinfoil hangs
above his left shoulder
at the check-in desk
of an abandoned motel.
The ocean itself
is only a sound
through a torn window screen
where some hardscrabble bush
about to flower
is just a smell.
Will something appropriately
random please
happen to convince me
reality is still playing
with a full deck?

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