Charleston, Illinois, 1968
Rail thin, grey flyaway hair,
she arranges change precisely.
Quarters form semi-perfect stacks
beside her register.
Her stained fingers fidget with the coins
as her constant Camel ashes.
The tiny bell that rings above her door
brings a wry smile to her face.
Leaning against the wooden counter,
she waits for regular customers to die.
Nick Dager was born and raised in Ohio and graduated high school and college in Illinois. As a result, his writing, especially his poetry, retains a Midwestern sensibility. After college, he worked for years as a journalist for a suburban Chicago daily newspaper before attending New York University’s Graduate School of Film & Television.
His poetry and short stories have appeared in such literary journals as Coe Review, Ab Intra and Karamu.
Today, he lives in Connecticut and is the editor and publisher of Digital Cinema Report, a website that chronicles motion picture business and technology.
I’ve been in that grocery store.