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.
"this arrivederci of the witless"
ReplyDeleteYou 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