fuck you very much

i am at a place

that makes my heart SWELL

where people let you take pictures inside stores

where the NICE NICE NICE as you can possibly imagine police officer

took my license

my registration

and was so goddam smiley

i thought should i hug him?

when he said i'm just gonna give you a warning miss

where the big blue sky kisses bales of hay

(that sounds so made up doesn't it? i swear they do i swear to you they do)

and the cigarettes are five dollars

FIVE DOLLARS

where they give you free stickers in stores

where everyone walks and talks a little slower

and even the hipsters don't scare you

because you know afterall

they live in kansas for a reason too

and i'm back in the place

where long before

at least seven years or so

an old man told me

a really really wide-eyed me

to just

keep

writing

write all the time

i was at a poetry reading

at this very coffee house

(aimee's cafe, classic local

so townie so homey you can take off

your shoes and sit by anyone)

and i felt

strange

embarassed

and secretly pleased

it makes more sense now

though i had so much confusion for so long!

and for what?

just naturally let yourself be what you are

que sera, sera

so here i am

doing one of the things i love doing most

eavesdropping on an elderly fella with silvery hair

a tucked in tee-shirt skinny as a twig

old man who has never known a stranger

here i am listening to him

smiling to myself

and loving his zest

loving this place

loving this moment

loving my life

overheard at Aimee's from the lovely man who still really loves his wife and loves his town too:

They’re really not expensive at all. Kindles are cool. So it’ll just download your book is that what it does? What’s gonna happen in another 10 or 15 years do ya think….? Yeah I saw it advertised. That’s what we need. Cause we do read a lot of the series ones. The Sue Grafton. Nora Roberts. One For the Money or A to Z or an Alpine Series you know all alphabetical and a lot of times at the store…. oh I don’t know……sometime I don’t remember where I put my book and then so you could take the Kindle with you instead. Idn’t that cool? We both have always loved to read. That’s one thing we have in common since we were dating. We still do. We read by the t.v. sometimes. Just something to think about. I think they’re pretty cool.

i should mention he waved to me and everyone else when he left. he walked in a loop to make sure to say goodbye to everyone. goodbye like i'll see you tomorrow not like i might not make it through today. what an absolute treasure.