Sunday, August 7, 2011

"Have a Nice Day"

I hate it when they say that to me,
always at the doctor’s office,
the grocery store or a restaurant –

this arrivederci of the witless,
stoic as a Smiley button pinned to the lips,
a one-day-only sale I hear all the time

echoing like the syllables of crows.
There’s a smell of cheap perfume to it,
like incense at a church service

that keeps me at a distance.
Maybe I should turn the locution
into the kind of dialogue Socrates had

with the soothsayers and Sophists.
Imagine their surprise
as I bring out the truth of their admission

like a gadfly or midwife.
But then again,
maybe Caesar said it best: "You too… ."


“Have a Nice Day” was originally published by Thorntree Press in Troika IV, 1994.

1 comment:

  1. "this arrivederci of the witless"

    You put into words the wordless thought I've had every time a mindless sock-puppet face has utterred that meaningless uber-cliche.
    You've made me laugh at a personal aggrevation! Well... almost laugh.
    - Ken

    ReplyDelete

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