OUTDOOR OASIS FOR LESS
The ants congregate outside World Market, they feast on fapoons from Denmark, they snack on smoked sardines from Spain, they repel down indoor/outdoor pillows for rare iced tea with island vibes a shard of Hello Kitty rice cracker lands on a reclaimed plastic dish mat and the ants entriangle around it, reenacting Judy Chicago’s famous party except mandibles are knocking over all the stemmed glassware and the neighboring Bed Bath & Beyond is closed
Bed Bath & Beyond couldn’t hack it here they mailed out too many coupons the ants came to expect them, use for tunnels and bridges, or haul to the leafcutters’ where they became fuel for ant bonfires, around which cozy up and scare each other, stories of the first days of store brands, which just, felt different… between pulls of bacon hot chocolate, they nod understandingly – 12 billion in stock buybacks – protect the nest and all that
Even after record sales, the ground can wash away, the earth has churn, the ants are pragmatic, square inches, cheap. An architect taps glass, swivels on her axle of a waist, sweeps speech across the party, sure as a lighthouse, …we are inspired by the globe, but remain committed to hyperlocal material…
Teens slip out the back, sniff their way to the one remaining piece of store in search of exo-self discovery to enshrine in “their” cubicle of cave in what is like totally mother’s house everywhere they look it’s mom’s stuff work stuff and endless nursery and at the mall a drying lakebed of items gasping for the grubby hands of home
