It Was a Dark and Stormy Disposition

April 1st, 2023,

The dog shit on the carpet and the car wouldn’t start. Patience already paper thin, there seems to be a increasing number of bad days. For comfort, and a smidge of glutton, I make the largest wok of fried rice. Authentic and everything. And then I go for a stroll.

The world passes by, ordinary but significant. A memory palace of things I see and hear: megaphone from a car window; two bunnies, off leash and out of place; bike tire tracks in what was once wet cement; a dilapidated wooden sign, faded paint reading “Pause & Affect.” So deep, poignant. Add it to the list.

My hands feel good in my pockets, from jacket to jeans and back. And they say I never change. Each step my left shoe squeaks and left knee hurts. Twenty-eight is a real bitch. The sunset bounces off the foothills in a purple glow that’s so pretty it’s stupid.

I’ll tell you a secret: my favorite word is seven letters and uses every vowel except y. It, in the plural, may just save our planet yet.

P.S. This isn’t a joke.