"Why I Want to Be a Dollar-Store Poet" by Joseph Quiroz
At dollar stores, there are always books
being sold that nobody cares about.
Bad romance novels
Trashy detective stories
Boring political books
Inspirational self-help gloop
but there's never really any poetry
I want to have a bad poetry book
at a dollar store so that whenever
someone confuses me for a dollar-store
worker when I'm wearing a nice
button-down shirt and some neat
black slacks, I will be able to say,
“No, I don't work here but I have
a bad poetry book for sale though.
Please buy it.”