Linda M. Barrett

It’s one in the morning
and Reed and Malloy on “Adam-12"
Want me to stay around
and watch them catch more criminals
Reed may be cute in
his crew cut 1970´s flair

But
My brain’s still on overdrive
because it’s addicted to the Kindle
the Words Plus Game droid
wants to beat me again
because he feels superior to
a nitwitted human
whom he likes to throw
bad letter tiles to
and stack the odds against me
in our constant battle
of the vocabularies.

My eyes burn and ache
from a long day of bagging groceries.
The soles of my feet
pound from standing all day
in front of a cash register

I need to climb the stairs
pull off my work uniform
before the Kindle’s batteries
wear down
Like I do.