he’s getting down to work this morning
but daydreaming about
Pet Rocks

how some guy made
a million bucks
selling rocks
in cardboard boxes
with a little straw
and an owner’s manual inside

how they sold out

and how some people refused
to buy them and just picked up
rocks where they were
and put them in boxes
and called them pet rocks
and others sold knockoffs
that had little googly eyes
hot glued to them and those
sold well too

but the point was
everyone had a pet rock
and called them pet rocks
and cared for their pet rocks
and they were all just rocks
but more than one person
got rich anyway

he’s thinking about Pet Rocks
while folding the T-shirts
on his kitchen table
packing them in boxes
shipping them out
never even bothering to read
the slogans of the minute
that he silkscreened on the shirts
last night after midnight