DROID, PLEASE.

anyway we like pacing around together and ranting in the attic but sometimes instead of pacing one of us will just hang on the pole and spin, and the other person will watch on the beanbag, which makes for these really goofy conversations where the person on the bag will say something that gets the other persons goat, such as, hypothetically, that xylophones do not belong in rock music, and then the other person will go on a tirade about this, but they'll actually only be facing the Hot Take Speaker half of the time, what because of the pole, so the response will sound something like

I can't believe

you would even suggest such

a stupid opinion. You've

been to a Danny Elfman

concert! How can you

have heard Oingo Boingo

live and say with a straight face

that they alone do not justify

rock and roll xylophones

and then that person will continue until they get too dizzy, then they'll get off the pole, and by unspoken agreement, the person on the bag will get up and trade places with them to deliver their rebuttal while also spinning and it just creates this sort of crazy strip-court lawyers debating absolute nonsense for no reason kind of vibe that frankly just really does it for us.

I think you should wear the brace, take the nap, ask for help, accept help joyfully, I think you should use the cane, the chair, you should sit down

I think you should put a cool or warm or one then the other cloth wet and clean against your face and focus on the temperature and if things align to allow it the aroma, and if not, then the cloth, I think you should focus on the weight, the texture,

again

the tempreture

to help

you relax.

I think you should take the ibuprofen. The asprin. The thing that works, for you, when you have this pain, that is available, handy, in your purse, in my purse, in someone's bag, in your bag, in my bag, we hand it to you, fetch you water. You thank me, them, yourself, for the water and manners are lovely and your appreciation is felt even if you do not thank them because

right now

talking is

the

last

thing.

I think you should buy the pre-cut pre-cooked just reheat just warm up just eat as is just sorted and I think you should remove the word "just" from these sentences you say to yourself as this is vitamins and minerals and carbohydrates and proteins and fats and the mechanics of being feeding your body and I think if you can adjust it to make it tastier than you should

salt butter cheese chocolate little snips to help

I think you should understand that most things in this world are neutral. Embracing neutral aids are good, so, neutral positive.

I think you should accept the weight of your feelings and scribble and draw and yell and sing and cry and howl and then sit and rest and watch a movie or listen to a song or read a book or read a blog or read a story and allow the cold comfort of the anger and angst

and think the weight of the unfair and cruel burning in you powering the furnace should be allowed a winter's night's chill

and then allowed to quiet as the sun rises again

funny, that, the sun, it rises on days of horror and days of sublime

i think you should wear the brace, actually, because your wrist hurts, and it is a brace, it is metal and fabric and velcro so some kind of plastic

it is not a crime, that you got away with, that haunts your steps, will they catch you, wearing the brace, you've lived twenty years since needing a brace, you're sure to be caught now, sheriff on your heels, the law just around the corner, everything bound to be ruined, soon as they find out

i think you should wear the brace because it is a brace and it will lessen the pain and you are in pain

and

justification is not needed

this is reason

alone

i think i should say that again

justification

is not needed

this is reason

and it alone

is more than enough

i think you should wear the comfortable clothes and you should wrap tight the comfortable blanket and open the windows to let in the comfortable air and i think that you should take a measuring cup and figure out if a few hours of sleep or gaming or reading or art or just being alive quietly would help you and if it does then dip the cup into the pool of time and i think you should drink it, allow it to settle, and experience it

i think you should experience softness

as often

as possible

i think if the pre-sliced single orange costs as much as the bag of oranges but the pre-sliced single orange allows you to dig your teeth into this freshness, this preserved sunshine

then the monetary cost is the cheapest price on this earth

i think you should wear the brace

and embrace the neutrality of things

i think you should be comfortable

i hope you are comfortable

i hope as i pass i can run a single finger along the length of your arm to remind you i hope you are comfortable

and

that

i am here,

for you,

“But none of that mattered. I accepted them for whoever they were, I respected their questions, took them seriously, and did my best to amuse them. It never loses its power to have these incredibly nervous kids approach and tell me that I have changed their life in one way or another. Those exchanges are so meaningful to me. I’m truly grateful for them. And for you.

“And I can only hope that you will take away a sound belief that—if you’re searching for where you belong—you always have a home within yourself… A vagabond looks upon the work as a field of potential and possibility, where beauty can be not just found but created.”