Thumb can’t reach.
The fork and spoon
just won’t fit through
the bottle’s narrow neck.
I slap my hand against
the Heinz sticker
but nothing inside shakes loose.
I could tip it upside down
but, when it comes to ketchup,
gravity takes its time.
The easiest thing
would be toss this
bottle in the trash
and open a new one.
But who writes a poem
about the easiest thing?

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident. Recently published in That, Muse, Poetry East and North Dakota Quarterly with work upcoming in Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal, Hawaii Review and the Dunes Review.