Pith & Vinegar: "Dollar Store Nontraditional Sestina"

Today's Pith & Vinegar selection has not appeared previously in print. It was commissioned by The Dollar Store, a very cool and unique reading series in Chicago (that's currently on tour, by the way -- catch 'em if you can).

Dollar Store Nontraditional Sestina

The fried chicken he coveted came in a bucket of 6 pieces.
Safe for use around children and pets, the real wax candle glows and flickers without fire. Battery operated,
it emits a warm, ambient light without unhealthy smoke byproducts. In the living room, a circling train set
went round and round its track, a choking hazard with small parts,
toxic paint, smiling and waving animal passengers, its caveat “not for children under 3 years”
cruelly taunting tiny, yearning minds. It was, hastily, and on the cheap, made in China.

He and she own so many things made in China:
TV, DVD player; pants, socks, shirts; teakettle with 6 pieces
that whistles The Andy Griffith Show theme, but more often, does not. For children under 3, “years”
is a tricky concept. She looked at her daughter, soon to be four. Battery operated
clocks are telling her time, unlike her grandfather’s antique pocket watch, whose springs are suspected to be a choking hazard. Small parts
of him admired the force of habit of a circling train, set

in its ways; the circling train, setting
out to cover a route routinely made. In China,
the streets of Hong Kong are littered with choking hazards, and the small parts
played by its citizens help keep it safe—he admired that, too. Going home at 6, pieces
in the evening newspaper motivate millions of commuters to purchase premium batteries, operate
on a schedule and whatnot for children under 3 years,

watch more television, save Social Security. If not for children, under 3 years
is all the time it takes to let everything slide. In the old west, circling trains set
out for parts unknown circled at night for safety; pioneers didn’t have flashlights, much less batteries, operated
horse-drawn carriages and never dreamt what “made in China”
would one day suggest. They got by without being stigmatized. She used to know 6 pieces
by Shakespeare by heart, played them beautifully, people said. Choking back tears, hazarding graciousness, ever smaller parts

are all she plays now; like a Heimliched actress choking on her lines, the hazard of small parts
is once you play them, no one will cast you in leading roles anymore, not even for children. Under 3 years
was all it took to cool her heated dismay. Her husband’s on his way home at 6. Pieces
of pasta bob in boiling water. There are certain want ads she’s circling: will train, set your own schedule, earn money at home. If they made in China
what he makes, things would then be different. Neatly displayed in a battery, operated

from the backseat of her car, Tupperware tumbles at each unsuspected speed bump; in a battery,
operated
on the spot, she parks and promotes her wares. Some contain choking hazards: small parts
of kitchen utensils, plastic molded what’s-its, knickknacks and accouterments made in China
expressly for the US market. She wraps her fingers in a knot. Four children under 3 years
old walk toward her unaccompanied, weaving and circling. Train set-
backs have delayed his homecoming to half past 6. Pieces

of jigsaw puzzles made in China displaying pictures of battery operated
cartoon characters are down to 6; pieces the kids don’t see as choking hazards, small parts
that might injure them, are not for children under 3 years. But a child’s mind is a circling train set.