Dragged along in the world’s wake
my phone in my hand
I glance at messages
posted by other people on social media
people striving to be funny, sexually attractive, or clever—
it leaves me generally unimpressed
On my better days the universe is a playground
where a mouse chewing on an apple core
dropped by the garbage bin in the yard
is a chance to imagine one
of countless lives beyond my own
Gladness is short-lived
but that is a relief
imagine settling into smug complacency
lowered into an armchair
answering every question
with one thin-sounding quote or another
Gods do not speak to me
dead friends only speak to me in dreams
I understand only half of what I hear and see
but I keep one eye open
for that mouse