To a woman, trying to return a book
received as a Christmas gift, having no receipt.

It’s February. A week into February.
The young cashier looks down and then at you
as he explains you need a receipt.
You refuse to accept his explanation
of a reasonable retail policy.
He leaves to fetch another
who explains the same policy again
and that this is not new by a couple years.
I stand waiting with my two books
I listen to the recitation and the protest.
Why did you wait so long to return this,
expecting to choose your own gift?
It’s a week into February woman, I think.
The holidays are long over and gone.