Weeping in the Walmart
   on a sticky evening in June.
I observe families,
   so calm and peaceful
       in the safety of each others' presence.
My soul shudders, then cracks -
   knowing I've tossed away that life.


My children lack their mother
   as they slumber alone this eve;
as I browse for ramen noodle
       and toilet cleaner and pears.


Tears rise, then fall, unbidden
   as I lose control in the frozen foods section
       there in the Walmart
   as families look on,
          unimpressed, unaffected in their togetherness.


Salty drops splash on scuffed tiled floor
   and are momentarily skipped through
       by a bouncing four-year-old
   cavorting down aisle 7.


Ten minutes find me alone in my sedan,
   where I should be strapping boys into car seats
   then collapsing into the passenger seat for the drive home.
Twenty minutes find me still in the parking lot
          as tears fall even faster.