From the death throes of empty gas pumps...

I wander amidst a massive wasteland    
where barren grocery shelves    
lay exposed, open and void    
sustenance morphs to what is easiest    
something canned - this or that    
snacks you never normally buy    
but have become standard 'hurricane food'    
rapidly checking off my precarious prep list    
the humdrum of reality topples    
into a surrealistic excursion    
in search of the last package of D batteries    
it makes for some stark discoveries    
clearing this fog of dreadful anticipation    
small bouts of indiscriminate panic    
sprinkle about    
coating that becomes heavier    
by the hour    
especially when I try to be all places at once    
checking various apps for available water    
only to get home and breathe lighter    
seeing it was delivered while I was gone    
holding faith for humanity's potential    
wishing for relief    
maybe a story of 'good will toward man'    
wanting that, needing that...    
after stewing way too long    
in stagnant crazed humidity    
(made worse by all the rushing, just to stand still)    
sadly, it wasn't in the cards    
there, face to face was blatant human greed    
selfishness beyond any real reason    
I watched it rear its ugly head    
cringed openly while hope dwindled    
then died...    
as a few hateful fuckers    
loaded two WHOLE pallets of water    
(that's a technical shit ton, btw)    
and every package of toilet paper    
that was left in the entire store    
into the back of a some truck behemoth    
they had jacked up and adorned    
in a very particular southern male kind of way    
all laughs , curses and high-fives    
It was their unapologetic smug satisfaction    
that caused my big mouth to shoot off    
with some cheap but well deserved shots    
awful pinpoint nasty snark    
I just could not abide    
knew it would cause an immediate reaction    
vitriol that was expected    
but what I didn't expect    
was that it also brought loud clapping    
and some serious 'atta girls'    
more solidarity of -I'm with you-    
where it felt like we ALL were standing up    
for what was right and simply just.    
   
because they all  
knew what I did,
 
common decency    
is only common    
when practiced    
   
   
perpetually