Henrietta 

we would go shopping in Henrietta 
the sprawl near our town 
parking lots stretched forever 
watching from the left side of the car 

it felt like another planet 
fluorescent and asphalt 
its monotony broken by signs 
the kind you’d find in airports 

I’d get nauseous in Henrietta 
from the traffic and ice cream 
the dazzle of a new toy to take back 
to Penfield 

we all now live in Henrietta 
mom’s gone with the sheen 
we find occasional pleasures 
amidst the flash-flood warnings