for daniel, who was kind

shaking in a cotton shirt waiting for the tram to take me to work
i want a wool jumper so i can stop hating winter

we’re walking home on eid al fitr and the lights are out i am
trying to brainstorm a way to afford a 100% wool jumper

i want mittens like the children wear:
windbreaker skin and fleece organs
gutsy fuchsia inside and out

i am using my spare ten minutes to get lunch
i am stopped with a tote bag of things
i didn’t pay for i am in trouble

if you get caught stealing your ten dollar lunch from woolies QV:
they cannot          make you pay for everything twice
they cannot even make you pay for everything once
you can even leave everything at the kiosk and walk away

we’re walking home on eid al fitr and i joke
that i could write a poem to subsidise the 100% wool jumper

the man who makes the sushi says i should be ashamed
the security guard smirks and frowns like a villain
she is 3 centimetres from my face
the woolies clerk tells me not to worry and reshelves my yoghurt

i want to stop hating winter but i don’t have the 100% wool jumper

i’m shaken from being caught
handing out the cookies i paid for
because i did not leave everything at the kiosk and walk away

and now i’m in an e-meeting
with a lady who works for council
telling her pay your artists and naming
(3) places that assign liveable rates
which my workplace does not offer
(it’s not their fault i promise)

i want to stop hating winter but last year
my power bill did that thing that cells
do when they double in thin air

thank you gds for paying me $100
now i can buy the 100% wool jumper
now i can stop hating winter
thank you daniel for shelving my yoplait so simply