Milk Shop

Three books stacked in a pile
a few onlookers peep in, squinting—
sunlight reflects
on the windows.

money, bills, calls, and papers,  
    tough deals for a cow's worth.

A wild customer storms in.
'How much for a liter of the milk?'
'Adai hol, it is sold out'—
one fell swoop of the hand:

books in the air, footsteps recede, three thuds
    central and eastern Europe, a Das, a Plath.

Sealed with banana leaf, 
tied by a loose string at a flinty time, 
three earthen pots of yogurt,
crack open on the literature.

She glances back 
              at her probiotic books,   

resumes services.

"Sorry, no milk…
thank you, next."

Artwork by Myriam Louise Taleb