She says Namaste even when not in yoga class, whereas I will not say
om under any circumstances.
She says she doesn’t resent the younger generation, that they are
completely of a world that we made, that to hate the young is to hate
ourselves.
She says that guys on dating apps indicate their marriage suitability
by listing their hobbies as ‘hiking’ and ‘rock climbing.’
Her hobbies include cocaine and gambling, but she leaves those off
her profile.
Somedays she doesn’t feel like getting out of bed, but if I say I want
to get coffee she will walk with me down the avenue to the best café,
the one that hasn’t yet been ruined by Instagram.
It’ll all work out, she says, and I agree even though I don’t.
Plan A is being admired by the world for your intellect and walking
the path of your true calling but until then we have each other.
¦
Later in the day, I text her:
Let’s go to Japan
I want the $22 fruit plate in Sembikaya, the one that comes with half
a banana and three peeled grapes
or let’s go to Paris
and bathe in a Dirand tub made of a single piece of marble.
She writes back:
No more stories about being a tourist in another country, please,
and none about funerals or affairs,
no miscarriages or cancer or things lost in a fire.
Just write about what’s good and what feels good and help me
too because
I am not good at titles or tweets, all of my poems are twenty
pages long
and I cry even when I get personal rejections
tell me they aren’t worth it
¦
She wants a ripped T-shirt, but she doesn’t want to cut the material
herself, won’t even watch a video tutorial on how to be artfully
distressed.
I tell her that virtue signaling is for Libras even as I pine for a Libra.
In my next career I will be an astrologer and then I will know what
kind of Libras to avoid.
Plan A is to face the sunrise bravely but until then we will fave each
other’s tweets while we squint at the horizon.
Dominica Phetteplace is a writer and futurist. She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and a Rona Jaffe Award. Her work has appeared in Asimov’s, Catapult, Analog, and other publications. There’s another poem by Phetteplace in Issue 120, so be sure to order your copy today.
