EGG SALAD
The queasy clench
when it’s mostly good
the egg salad
just a little film browning the surface
around the perimeter
easy enough to avoid but exactly
where the clerk starts scooping
and I reflexively reach to stave him off
arm barred by the invisible force field
of the deli case glass
like a passenger’s frantic foot
jackhammering a phantom brake pedal
as their driver speeds through
another red light
on the road to hell.