don't be a cunt.

There are very few

people I look at and

immediately don’t like

This is the second day

she had the couch

I wanted to sit in at

the coffee shop

I came to write

Yes, this is annoying

But something about

her general disposition

and her face

Was somehow worse

Sitting on the

other side of the

same couch

Defiantly waiting her out

A silent protest

where only I seemed

to be affected

She complains

in a volume

somewhere between

inside and outside voice

Apparently a coworker

wasn’t pulling his weight

Fuck me.

Forgot my headphones

Next call.

Onboarding a new member

to this corporate agency

She reveals so matter of factly

the reality

that she is battling cancer

Reassuring that the days

she will be low energy

are marked clearly on the cal

Her hair will be different

next time they talk

Can’t stomach the

buzz cut just yet

She also teaches yoga

Loves petting her cat

And graduated only in 2016

Welcome to the team.

Look, being annoying

happens with cancer

or without

You never know

what someone carries

Next time

I will be sure to smile her way

and try to emanate

some kind of warmth

There’s something to be said

about energy

Even though I’m not sure

if kindness can somehow

restructure a stranger’s cells

to heal with just a bit more ease

Or if that’s too much to ask

this world

Raising the corners

of your mouth

up

is an exercise in the

bare minimum

In the very least,

don’t be a cunt

(Allie).