I don’t know what to do
in stores like Home Depot and Menards
Walking around aisles with a
studious expression, hoping to high heaven
I don’t have to approach a salesman
(Yes, may I please get one…nuts and bolts?)

What am I, an adult?
I’m a child who’s been
alive for thirty one years
I don’t know anything
about Thingamagigs
and Whatchamacallits

This silver bolt thing
connects to where?
Is it important?
Who will install it for me?
The room will surely explode
if I do it myself

Sparkling appliances
snug in boxes looking like
they know what they’re used for
Chrome light fixtures
and sparkplugs that dazzle my eye

and flatline my brain
I’m not adult enough for this
left without supervision
in handyman’s land
I literally crawl through the woodwork

(Balsam wood, cherry wood,
Look at me reading the labels!
Maybe I’ll build a shed!)
To think I was enamored
by the prospect of home ownership