I love cities
but can’t stand crowds
i stared out the window
while she showered
and pondered
my next move.
the afternoon before
i hopped out of a taxi
phone in hand
hearing my work worries
vanish
just like that
leaving me to the
quiet weekend
i’d been hoping for.
a holiday
in my own city
it was very “meta”
of my friends
to give us this
as a wedding gift »
keep the light from me
while i feel so ineffectual
that knowing
sick
feeling
looms heavily
slowly raising one paw
before falling
like an anvil on my shoulder
“hey.
buddy.
got a minute?” »
“…she wouldn’t even learn a word of Spanish. Not even ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’ [ … ] and then she started thinking everyone was talking about her.”
I didn’t catch the rest of their tram conversation but a little later I noticed a guy just across the aisle from me scrawling on a small piece of paper, rendering the face of the beanie and blue jacket-clad old guy sitting opposite him. »
all business
no play
i even
wore a suit
once
the other day.
halfway through the year
i have not achieved my goal
of spending more time
on creative pursuits. »
on the morning tram
he’s reading the Fin Review
and looking big
spread across his seat
I sit across
reading poetry
and trying to be small
you know
in case somebody
wants to sit in that space
next to me
as inevitably happens
but only when
i don’t have coloured hair
that’s when everybody
keeps away
when I reach the office
I get a coffee downstairs
and the barista »