Yellow Shirt, Blue Tie
Poem
the red toothbrush lies sideways on the white sink
and talks to me whenever I get ready to go out or for bed
asks about my day, talks of my affections wanting to know
something about me it has never heard before, after you
the red toothbrush says it’s your yellow shirt’s cousin
and that they’ve traveled to three countries together
and in one of those countries, Spain, Milan to be exact,
they were introduced to a lover, also known as the blue tie
the red toothbrush likes it when I leave one of both of them out
after taking them off or getting ready to wash them and carrying them around
or trying to decide what to wear when one or both could go with my pants
anyway the toothbrush lies there calm as can be and doesn’t give itself away
the red toothbrush took me aside and confided it was writing a novel
a story of its life and it has a long one because you are not here to use it
it is going to live several lifetimes, and write days into years like a cat
who’s received word that despite being run over by a truck is alive and well
