Sam Sobel

wheels and the Difference

I seem to fall
head over heels
enamored in grocery
stores; squeaky carts
seem to be attracted
to me and I love loose
wheels. They make me slow down,
and make strangers listen.
We lock eyes and I’m left
alone with my thoughts
and theirs and there’s
something so intimate
about the whole exchange.

Maybe because grocery aisles
feel a lot like language:
just an act of
differencing.
Without words, beef and lamb
and chicken are just sounds
dropped in ice cubes
melting, reaching
for our ears
because science says
water should evaporate
and grocery stores
are just workshops
in reaching.

Mothers reaching for
unboiled russets.
Babies reaching for
things they haven’t said.

Me, reaching out,
to you:
carrying this piece
on creaky-loose wheels.

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Sam Sobel is an undergraduate student at Rutgers University, New Brunswick whose work has been featured in a
couple of places there (The Anthologist, Writers House Review). Most recently, he had a poem published over at Wild Greens Magazine in their February edition. Sam loves all aspects of language ranging from literature to
sociolinguistics, and he hopes to pursue an MFA in poetry. His favorite word at the moment is lacuna which means
"a hiatus, gap, or missing portion."