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Carry-on Baggage

I’ve sold my car

I’m waiting for a ride to the airport.

Suddenly all the small items that I need

with me are too many for the carry-on limit.

Three or four people offer to drive me to the airport.

A woman is riding along with me and seems to mean well.

I stop in a shop near the door to purchase a bag to use as a carry-on

that will hold all the important things that I must have with me;

I cannot find the right one,

the one that will pass as a single,

large, but not too large, personal item.

The airlines are very strict now. Meanwhile

a woman has checked my bag through and is taking

it to the security x-ray department herself. She disappears

around the corner with it. I’m angry, almost hysterical, because

There is no perfect carry-on,

And she has already sent my suitcase on its way.