Stuck snack

I dropped the dollar in, the clink

small against the machine’s hum.

The button pressed, hope spinning,

a slow thud inside the glass box.

A candy bar wedged tight,

still as a paused breath.

The screen blinks,

"out of service"—but the wrapper

stares back, like it knows

I’m stuck too, fingers pressed

against cold plastic.

Change spills on the floor,

the metal tray yawns empty.

I walk away, hunger

forgotten under buzzing lights,

carrying the weight of a candy

I’ll never taste.