Sometimes I Didn’t Talk At All

Most times I’d tell you interesting facts
about ketchup / painters / space or
Japan / coins / pregnant giraffes
but sometimes I didn’t talk at all
sometimes for a long time
but still you’d wait

and wait

still

with the patience of a saint

until I came back

until I came back to tell you that

there’s a treasure chest containing $1million
buried somewhere in the Rocky Mountains
and then I’d get excited because I’d decided
that we absolutely had to find it

but then I’d cry because you’d remind me
that American would never let us in
and then the silence would begin
but still you’d wait

and wait

still

with the patience of a saint

until I came back to you.

Originally published by Sledgehammer Literary Journal (July 2021)