anticipating buying
the claw hammer in Bucerias
i’d learned 2 Spanish words
in advance
the boy, 14-ish shaggy haired
“do you need nails?”
“no just the hammer”
learning the preferred Mexican term
entirely different and dissonant
and unnecessary to the situation
“you sold me tacks yesterday”
as though he’d care
considered like a bleeding toe
in a sandy crab pinch and attached
to the words of nails and canvas
