the martian

these are the days when you feel you've just landed
on earth

as you try to take your bearings but you don't
fit in

like today as you went about doing
those things

like everyone else does you know
those things

like grocery shopping & fueling up
your vehicle

& it seems that everyone around you are
going about

as if they were performing some
secret ritual

designed to open the mysteries
of being

you are confused by all
of it

the wonder of ordinary experience
the custom

of standing in line at the supermarket when the system
breaks down

the clerk frantically calling for
her manager

as you wait patiently as you can
in front

of you is a young woman with black hair streaked
with green

she is dressed like a colorful figure from anime
she is

playing a game on her phone & chatting with anyone
near her

finally when it is her turn to pay for
her things

she turns to you & asks for your monopoly
game pieces

[this you don't understand] because she's
already won

a $1000 & she would like to
win more

the clerk smiles at the both of you
& says

please take my pieces because i have for you the
magic touch