Asleep.
	Asleep on the kitchen table.
	Asleep on your back on the kitchen table, tablecloth for the blank-
et, microwave for a clock.
	Calculating the number of minutes until 9 am.
	Squinting into the lights as you turn them on, even the ones you
don't need.
	Hanging by fingertips from the doorframe.
	Kicking the air.
	Tired enough to sort all your clothes without complaint.
	Forehead canted against the bookshelf.
	Arms around the bookshelf.
	Books all down your arm, braced against your bicep.
	Ripe banana.
	Labelling most of the stereo cables.
	Fingers washed with soap and water.
	Regarding the sofas.
	Dusting the bedroom.
	Awake on your back on the wood floor where your bed was.
	Dropping your shoes into the full bathtub.
	Dry cereal and wine.
	Singing in the crawlspace.
	Covered in dust again.
	Sorting make-up.
	Sorting greeting cards.
	Squinting into the sunrise.
	Jefferson Airplane on the stereo.
	Manufacturers of poster gum forgiven for their sins.
	Cold washcloth on the back of your neck.
	Parachute pants, inverted t-shirt, bandana.
	Unjamming the drawer of the hall table.
	Breathing fresh air.
	Making sure the engine turns over.
	Unplugging everything.
	Huffing with the effort.
	The list of what didn't fit into the pickup.
	Note for Dad.
	Lipstick prints on the cabinet over the sink.
			on the doorframes.
			inside the wardrobe.
			on the bedroom wall.
			on the last rent check.
			on the flowerpot.
	Sitting on the softest part of the long sofa for 10 minutes.
	Banana, still green.
	Every last piece of yarn from the floor.
	Key at the base of the tallest flower in the garden.

	This is how you say goodbye.

written for (Radio) Yoz at my kitchen table 10/24/01

I said to myself, "Think small. No plot." Mission accomplished, I suppose. Now I have learned that writing anything related to my immediate surroundings will involve lots of staring into space, trying not to think about my surroundings.

Not sure if the clipped diction is pretentious or just awkward. I wanted a sort of headless feel to go with the second-person approach. Works in places. Maybe the last line should have been "for everything else, there's Mastercard", ha ha ha.

- everything is by Aaron Mandel; please ask first if you're about to steal something -

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