Sleepover at Grammy's house

Moving about in a house without children
For a parent
Is like being in the department store after
Or before
Hours
For everyone else
Not the mall
It’s filled with too many choices
Too many opportunities
Not the grocery store
It’s too limited
And has too many climate zones
Not the museum
Any museum
That’s too exotic
Too intellectual
And there’s not enough plastic
Not the book store
The analogy itself is
Cruel and unusual punishment
As I think I have lost the skill to read anything
That doesn’t rhyme and
Have illustrations
Lots of them
And the thought of giving all those opportunities
To someone who would remember what to do with them
Is just too much
No the department store is the right place
Outside of our normal experience with it
It’s intriguing
But still familiar
Still limited
And it’s generally just one temperature
So moving about
Unconsciously searching for
A customer service representative
Or an open
And short
Line at the cash register
I don’t have to bemoan the fact I haven’t dressed in layers
And I can focus more clearly
On what isn’t there
And how I feel about it