I went to town yesterday

to pick up a package of roller ski wheels

from Pölder Sport in Nässjö

at the Post Office counter

at Stora Coop supermarket,

before heading over to the library

to borrow poetry by Bruno K. Öijer

and Federico García Lorca

The man who scanned my library card

and handed me the books

had angrily red-lacquered fingernails,

which he let linger in a lazy gesture over the counter

as he held out the books

with a barely perceptible smile

It annoyed me, considerably

One is allowed to be annoyed

I exercised my right to be annoyed, fully

I walked back to the car in the Coop parking lot,

but quickly realized I had forgotten the box

of rollers ski wheels at the library

I got annoyed

The irritation crept along my spine,

lit up all the darkened places in my body,

whistled in my boots

I walked back to the library

with quick, determined steps

The man with his blood-red fingernails

at the tips of his slack hands

was still standing behind the counter, staring

as I rushed in

That annoyed me, fully

The librarian girl,

behind a desk further inside,

had a smug expression on her pale face

That annoyed me a lot

The roller ski wheel box

stood neatly on the floor in the corner

where I had sat in an armchair

weighing Bruno K. Öijer, for and against

Federico García Lorca needed no weighing

I had to pass the man again,

who had sat at home painting his nails

lingonberry read

before taking his place behind the lending desk

at the library

That made me very annoyed, in full measure,

fully

I walked briskly back to the car

in the Coop parking lot

and threw the roller ski package into the back seat