red sweater dime buffalo

on my way to the post office

with a large bundle of corn
cheaper that way

slow moving old woman
bundled

red sweater
jacket

i am sleeveless
breezy quiet

hold door

inside a line
up

of customers

slowly dig into
bag of grocery

pulling out a bar
of nut and seed

and wait

unbundling my corn
on a pedestal

i am served
change given

as the dime
pops out of my hand
and lands next to
the woman
with the shock of white
hair
and the hands
that have made there way through many days

her dialogue
about postal codes
for buffalo

and the postal clerk not having them here

'i will have to go downtown!?'

the effort of this journey
evident

as i gaze to see her hand and my dime
no postal code for buffalo
my package sent as requested
xpress post
her red sweater

as her hand curls around my dime

i pick up my parcels of corn and grocery

and this day begins.