Refused Scan

The beep won’t come. I press again—

a cold machine, a silent pain.

Plastic glints, red light blinks,

a stubborn silence thick as sinks.

Jar against glass, no lines obey,

a stubborn thing that won’t give way.

Hands tense, a sigh swallows air,

waiting where time splits and tears.

The scanner cold, the pause too long,

a wrong note in a silent song.

Barcodes fail, frustration grows,

a quiet war nobody knows.