called the White House Food Shop:
It was our family’s livelihood
and the place we all worked
as kids.
(Even the youngest
carried empties redeemed
for pennies to the back room.)
I learned how to make change
counting backwards, a skill
not needed today when a machine
adds for us. But I can still do it.  

In the dream I wait on customers
but I cannot remember what anything
costs. I cannot add up the bill,
and Dad is busy. I think I might
make up the prices, but hesitate.  

In the dream I am never certain.  

In the dream it is closing time
but the store fills up with customers:
This is the legacy of Dad
who never turned anyone away
(even the man who brought in a box
of television tubes to test in the “U-Test-Em”
machine Dad installed to make a few extra bucks,
on a Sunday afternoon when it was time to go).  

That was my Father and I hated to disappoint him
by my dreamtime ignorance. Even when i awake
I am not certain and
I hate to disappoint him.