By Paul Violi
We, the naturally hopeful,
Need a simple sign
For the myriad ways we're capsized.
We who love precise language
Need a finer way to convey
Disappointment and perplexity.
For speechlessness and all its inflections,
For up-ended expectations,
For every time we're ambushed
By trivial or stupefying irony,
For pure incredulity, we need
The inverted exclamation point.
For the dropped smile, the limp handshake,
For whoever has just unwrapped a dumb gift
Or taken the first sip of a flat beer,
Or felt love or pond ice
Give way underfoot, we deserve it.
We need it for the air pocket, the scratch shot,
The child whose ball doesn't bounce back,
The flat tire at journey's outset,
The odyssey that ends up in Weehawken.
But mainly because I need it – here and now
As I sit outside the Caffe Reggio
Staring at my espresso and cannoli
After this middle-aged couple
Came strolling by and he suddenly
Veered and sneezed all over my table
And she said to him, "See, <i>that's</i> why
I don't like to eat outside."
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I had a long-distance social Wednesday: chat with all three of my Wednesday high school friend group in the morning, lunch and some reading, then watching the end of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay with Kristen (forever Team Katniss). Then we took a walk to the beach in surprisingly warm weather and went to see the eagles and osprey quarreling over who got to sit on which branches over the lake.
The Orioles had a good day but yet again the Mariners did not. We ate leftovers for dinner (I got the Indian food, yay), then watched the second half of the second season of Wednesday, which has several fun guest characters, some nice girl power, and a story that feels, well, slight. The caged animals seemed none too happy to be there but we got to see many goats having fun at the Evergreen State Fair:
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