Five-Finger Discount

The security guard had the kid by the arm

in the aisle with the vitamins and the soap.

I felt the old heat, the silent alarm

of a girl who once traded her pride for some hope.

In the pocket of a coat from a decade ago,

I found the 'Electric Plum' tube in the lining.

The cap is cracked and the pigment is slow,

a dried-out remains of a cheap, purple shining.

The price tag is stubborn, a half-peeled white square

showing zero and zero, a ghost of the theft.

I remember the rush of the cool, pharmacy air

and the heavy, dark secret was all I had left.