After Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art”
good thing I know how to be alone
so many people don’t
good thing I didn’t forget my corduroy jacket
for this cold walk home
and it looks like I got the music right,
back when I was 16
“New Song” and “Poison and Wine,”
all those sad songs on repeat
I don’t mind // I always will
good thing that I feel it still?
good thing I can feel it still
and good thing that I’ve always had headphones and
Maggie Rogers and
a room of my own to dance in
(I agree with you, Virginia Woolf!)
good thing my parents taught me
you should never be engulfed
by one person or one way of life
no matter who or what or where
this pill is hard to swallow but good thing they’re always there
Lake Michigan in the rain
sunlight through trees at five pm
how people you know for years become new
again, again, again
I made lists like these when I was 18
and chose one thing a day
eventually I stopped,
I couldn’t pick just one to say
I’ll pick the habit up again
good things are easy to forget
I didn’t write you down
and that’s my biggest regret
so — good thing that I had you
even if (though) I don’t anymore
and you
and you, too
and the best thing —
the best thing!
is how much of it was unplanned
look in the mirror, say it
(say it!)
and say it again
