Iced Cucumber

the bodega man
I buy Juul pods from
surreptitiously says
"the last flavored ones in town"
and slides across to me

a pack of Bidi, a Juul knockoff, gratis

I don't do flavors

I'd still smoke 

if it hadn't hindered my wife quitting

but I appreciate the gesture

and quietly take it, saying thanks

at home I see that its iced cucumber

and the pods are large, the juice a murky syrup

I try it anyway

out of obligation for my bodega friend

and a sense of morbid curiosity

it does taste like hotel water steeped in sliced cucumber

but the sensation, even if as advertised, is repulsive

the reality bafflingly incongruous

another example of our reach exceeding our grasp