Ars Poetica

on days I'm feeling annoyed
I admit looking at my phone's group thread
and muttering to myself:
not every text needs to be [hearted]
but there's also the day
my fortune cookie says
success and prosperity are coming your way
and I smile and like ethel I sing
everything's coming up roses
and I remember the online narrative poetry workshop I took
and how the teacher, ayokunle falomo told us after a classmate said
it's so easy to write about the bad stuff
he said, you're more than the bad things that happened to you
which made me think of how bryan stevenson of the equal justice initiative said
you're more than the worst thing you've ever done
and I think of the escalating joy in a leah umansky poem
and my synapses start flashing like a pinball machine
and every happy and beautiful moment in my phone notes reminds me of that
and I'm back in the shoe store in barrington
a middle-aged woman is trying on ankle boots
her partner cheers her on with such heart

do they fit good, Pam?
do they give you good support?
I like them, Pam!

and I think assurance is always a good thing
and we can't have enough of it
like when my daughters tell me
I don't need to keep the siri directions on
when I'm at the point I know where I'm going
I tell them, but she's keeping me company
and I'm not sure how to classify this next one
but I walked downtown this summer
to the providence pvd arts fest

just a few blocks away from where everything was happening
I noticed a woman, maybe in her 50's, sitting on a bench
surrounded by numerous small, plastic shopping bags
her grey hair in what my daughters would call a 'messy bun'
her sneakers dirt-covered and worn
she stared intently at her phone

and as I passed, I heard the male voice in her video
say, I see the tears inside of you that no one else sees
It was a strong voice, it was like I imagined how l. ron hubbard sounded
even though I don't remember if I've heard his voice
when I walked back home four hours later
the woman was still sitting on the bench fixated on her phone
the same voice emanating from it
and I thought that's dedication, and that's holding on
to whatever you can hold onto to make it through a day
and even though I was feeling somewhat weak from the heat
and a slight post-birthday stomach bug, I hummed to myself
everything's coming up roses for me and for you…