bewilderment

i am perplexed by the slick images of disaster -

earthquake - tsunami - nuclear meltdown -

i am estranged from the mountain of freight containers,

hundreds piled up like colorful building blocks and

i cannot sympathize with the elderly couple

stumbling over the sticks of their house,

wading through the ruins of their street,

sterilized by captions, font size 12

times new roman, just what the editor ordered

the news flash from japan

remote, catastrophic, transmitted

is troublesome to my soul 

i do not understand the colorful overhead menu

the rows of soda pop dispensers -

coke - diet coke - fanta - dr pepper - sprite - raspberry ice tea -

i am unfamiliar with the sweating cardboard cup,

carton of floppy french fries and

i cannot identify with the half-eaten cheeseburger,

partially chewed layers of processed animal products,

sticky bread, limp vegetable, rancid slime of condiments,

discarded on greasy paper gradually uncrumpling

the three-dollar meal deal

cheese or no cheese, plus or minus thirty cents

is troublesome to my soul