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The shortest girl behind the counter
a gap between incisors
prescription lens in current trend
rocked the cheese knife side to side
looked up as she smiled
cutting samples from the wheel

Savannah who is three picked apples with her mom today
the first she pulled was stuck
it wouldn’t leave the tree
she twisted another and the stem let go
the sumptuous red fruit
from earth to tree to hand.

Thangavel has a gentle demeanor
a software engineer with children in their teens
if there’s a customer problem with his code
anxiety and self-reproach
himself the source of a mistake.