Poems from the weekend
In no particular order
A Simple Favor
I wipe the dust from the router.
You’re wasting your potential, he tells me.
I plug in the Ethernet cable.
No, I’m serious. It takes some knowledge to do this.
I open a command prompt and ipconfig for no other reason than to show off.
You can’t be a cashier your whole life, I wish I would have learned computers.
I type in 192.168.1.1 and update the password on the WiFi.
Here’s twenty dollars to put towards going back to college.
I haven’t earned it.
Haircut
Long overdue.
We decide to try a new place,
a locally owned barber shop.
The barber doesn’t look at all like I expect,
she is all alone when we walk in.
I always hated this part
the small talk begins.
But as she cuts my hair she opens up,
in a way that made me uncomfortable at first.
I learn about her ex
and the kid he left her with.
And her voice
is only love and understanding.
She is just starting to get a footing here
I hope she finds peace.
Every time she really concentrates
she hums along to the music.
I look in the mirror and see
something far different than I saw initially.
Dad doesn’t tip enough.

You Messaged
Again.
Saying you hope I’m doing well.
Telling me you keep hearing a song,
that reminds you of me.
I tell you about the changes
in my life since we last spoke
4 months ago. When I told you happy birthday.
You ask if I’m doing okay.
I haven’t responded.
Adapting
As far as the other changes go,
I didn’t like any of it
at first, but then it just becomes another part of life.
Sometimes that upsets me,
the stuff that used to make me upset doesn’t anymore.
What does that mean?
Apathy?
Take for example Dad’s drinking.
He started again
the first night she came over.
Then brief periods where
he says he’s over doing it
and will slow down.
But after a week, it’s every night.
That used to really bother me;
perhaps it still does,
I just think about him less now.
Everything is like that, I feel. You hate it
for awhile
but we are really good at adapting.
I just can’t decide if that’s a good thing.
