three new little poems:
we could eat a salad
we could eat a salad quietly or in silence
or i could tell you why we shouldn't
or why i'd rather feel okay than happy
and i could think about the importance of having a calm demeanor
in the face of something like monetary uncertainty
while i pile dishes in the sink
and how being able to achieve and maintain something
is one way to function acceptably as a human being
good little helper
you feel bad and then feel bad about yourself
for having felt bad, so when i use practical language
to make you understand something overlooked
or my hand to slow your pulse
you call me your good little helper
and for some reason it makes sense to kiss your cheek
and then move a table-top photograph a few inches to the left
it would be okay
on bikes with you in the sun if there was a breeze
and the sky seemed big then and later at night
if we could see orion's belt and you could undo mine
and we could find a silver marker, even if we just met
we'd feel calm around each other
and not have to talk for a long time walking down the street
until eventually you'd say something about being alive
and i would like the words you used and the order you put them in
