Look at what we have

             established:

                               It is possible to have

                               a conversation with

                               a stranger.

The cats under the bed

The tiny tick of carbonation

We don’t imagine the

               scene:

                                 We inhabit it.

Closing lids against the sun

That shade of red

What makes

               a journal:

                                 a list.

The multicolored boards

The needy dog

The blue-and-white

               check:

We’ve lost the car:

                                 what has been

                                 taken.

The peeling paint

The glitter glue

               in her hair

What makes it better.

                                 The girl launching

                                 the waves

The water falling on

               the water

If you love error

               so love zero.

The dirty sill

The violet door

The pink cake

________________________________________________________________________

Stephanie Anderson is the author of In the Key of Those Who Can No Longer Organize Their Environments (Horse Less Press, August 2013) and four chapbooks, including the forthcoming Sentence, Signal, Stain (Greying Ghost Press).  She lives in Chicago and edits the micropress Projective Industries.