little story

nothing ever ends

Not my usual style of poem, really, but this does respond to Larissa’s prompt from last week, which was to rehash the past. A few winters ago — I can’t even remember what year — I had this boyfriend for a month, maybe less. We started up one night at the YMCA steam room while Lana Del Rey was playing, helped each other survive in the cold for a few weeks, then broke up unceremoniously and both started new antidepressants. I’ve been thinking about this lately, as the seasons turn: in every life there are these little pockets of alternate reality. A lover that lasts a month, a brief stint at a job, a vacation that’s never really mentioned again, a friendship that ends without consequence. These things matter, but never how you expect. That’s what this poem is about.

little story

once
a lover said to me:	sophie,
you’ve gotta be so special all the time,
			otherwise i’m no use to you
			isn’t that right?

i said		yes baby yes!!		have a nice life!!


not sorry because

yes i can spot a miracle when i see one

so i’m not moving in

with the Miracle Ignorer


	thank you,
	lukewarm coffee in bed, cold shower, scent of lilacs – 
	everything unwasteable,
	everything that cannot be wasted


i need it all

to live to die

& i have to do it too

PROMPT: Alternate reality — but just a small one.

I hope you all have a beautiful November, even though it is cold and dark.

xoxo

Soph