Ten.One Thousand, Seven Hundred & Twenty-Seven

1. Slowly.

2. Clarifying questions of self.

3. To sit and drink coffee without interruption is a gift.

4. After the call I yell out his name. No answer. I look for his shoes under the bench: red pair, blue pair, black pair. What is missing? The baseball cleats.

5. Down the mountain again. Maybe that option will work.

6. I hear how it is sounding as it’s coming out of my mouth and even though I think I’m speaking without emotion, I know how it’s landing and there’s no way to keep it from landing like it is.

7. Maybe I should have said nothing.

8. He gives the barber a fist bump before heading out.

9. I sit on the edge of the garden bed under an arch of braided wisteria branches. The flowers are not yet in bloom. It is a perfect little house, but not the perfect little house for us.

10. Vanilla milkshake with rainbow sprinkles.