By J. Morgan    
Date: 23 June 1997

Untitled

I proffered my broken heart
to the fat complacent clerk
who was sitting behind the counter.
It lay rendered and torn, ripped to shreds
among several sheets of tissue paper.
The bitch never looked up from the
newspaper she wasn't reading,
instead pointing aimlessly toward
the placard displayed on her counter.
"No returns.  No exchanges.
Make due with what you've got,"
the sign simply stated.