Memorial Flowers

GS25, corner of Nonhyeon-ro fluorescent light doing its usual damage I am in the refrigerated section choosing between chrysanthemums and carnations in cellophane because apparently this is grief now apparently this is the action the body performs when the phone said what the phone said and the train kept going south The checkout man does not look up the loyalty card machine bleeps 2,800 won for white carnations that will die before Friday you always deserved better than this you always deserved a florist with tissue paper and a card and someone with more to say than the PIN pad's four-digit prompt Cellophane and carnations the checkout beeps like a heartbeat you deserved better than this you deserved better than this but GS25 is open and I have to do something with my hands Cellophane and carnations the checkout beeps like a heartbeat you deserved better than this fluorescent, fluorescent the refrigerator hum sounds like the room after news sounds like the room after news 2,800 won for grief scan, beep, done you deserved better than this I walk back toward the intersection the flowers wrapped in my arm like I know what I'm doing like this is a gesture that translates I pass a woman eating a Triangle Kimbap on the curb, she doesn't look up a delivery bike accelerates past the app still routing, still routing somewhere someone is receiving the thing they ordered in time while I arrive too late with convenience store carnations and a face that doesn't know what to arrange itself into The city smells like diesel and the last hour of a workday that didn't stop for anything I place the cellophane on the curb at Yeoksam-ro and Teheran-ro and the wind immediately begins its practical assessment Cellophane and carnations the checkout beeps like a heartbeat you deserved better than this you deserved better than this but this is what I had this is what the city keeps stocked this is what a 24-hour grief looks like Cellophane and carnations the checkout beeps like a heartbeat you deserved better than this fluorescent, fluorescent the refrigerator hum sounds like the room after news sounds like the room after news 2,800 won for grief scan, beep, done you deserved better than this You always said convenience stores were the most honest architecture in Seoul everything you need, nothing you want open when the city closes open when the city I bought flowers from a refrigerator I paid with my phone T-money for the dead beep beep beep and the loyalty points accumulated and the receipt curled in my pocket and the wind assessed the flowers and kept going Cellophane and carnations the checkout beeps like a heartbeat you deserved better than this fluorescent, fluorescent the refrigerator hum— GS25 is open all night GS25 is always open the city requires this of us: be open be stocked be available for purchase beep done