At what we call
“the natural food place”
I grab both good bacon
and organic agave nectar,
which I insist upon using
when I brew
strong black tea. 

The cashier is vegan —
we’ve discussed it before —
he looks at first the nectar,
then the bacon:  “Bacon
AND vegan honey?”  as if
the cognitive dissonance
is breaking his heart and head.

The first thought I have in response:

I adore negation, cognitive
dissonance, cancelling out of terms,
anything that forces me to think
strong-crackingly,
like a polar icebreaker
in the grocery aisle. 

The second thought
is of bacon dipped in agave nectar,
and of how damn good
that sounds.