1494

We had to pick

three of our most

important memories

and three things we hated

and combine the two.

Meeting you was

one of the former.

You know me

well enough

to imagine the things I hate.

We had to combine the two.

I’ve been -

-

-

-

-

there was this story

I heard recently.

A rancher has a horse,

the horse runs away.

The neighbor says,

I’m sorry to hear about your loss,

that was a good horse.

The rancher says

who knows what’s good or bad.

The next day

the horse comes back

with a pack of wild horses.

The neighbor says to the rancher

what good luck you have.

The rancher says

who knows what’s good or bad.

The next day

one of the wild horses

bucks the rancher’s son off

he breaks his leg

and the neighbor says

what poor luck you have

that’s a damn shame

and the rancher says

who can say what’s good or bad.

The next day

military recruiters for the draft

come by, picking up

able bodied men.

The rancher’s son is spared

and the neighbor says

what good luck you have

and the rancher says

who knows what’s good or bad.

-

I don’t know anything.

I just remember you

standing underneath

that spindly tree in the

Rowe courtyard

watching me smoke

and how when you

spoke

I felt like I was

falling

-

I don’t know anything.

-

Robbie asks me

what I miss

and I say

who’s to know

what’s good or bad