A week temping in a squat building plunked along a nowhere road in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Fake-wood paneled walls thin like a house the wolf could blow down in one puff. I’m typing numbers on invoices: Roll into typewriter, hit keys, crank out, repeat. Over and over. Facing me, a diagram of animals carved into meat by dotted lines, labeled hock, loin, rump, chuck. Three beefy men shout into telephones at truckers. Goddamn, get back on the road! If that load goes bad, buddy, it’s comin’ outta your paycheck! At lunch break, gasping for air, I bolt for anywhere but there.
Kara Provost has published two chapbooks, Topless and Nests, and six micro-chapbooks (Origami Poems Project). She lives in Rhode Island and is currently writing a novel. Instagram: @karaprovost12