Corner Table at the Trucker’s Cafe

You can make your own lampblack

using this cheap candle, this spoon, 

and this bottle of vodka.

You can use this ink to write 

your order on your sleeve 

so you don’t have to talk 

to the waiter.

You can use this ink to construct 

any number of possible endings 

to all those conversations 

from which you walked away.

You can use this ink to reverse 

the star charts on your eyelids 

so you can read them 

in the rearview mirror.

You can use this ink to sign 

the check for the babysitter, 

who has been waiting all year 

for you to return home.

Or you can use this ink to draw 

a map on your windshield 

before heading back 

out into the rain.

[LSS, 1/20/21]

Drawing with Scissors

I can make those shadows 

on the wall.

I can make those shadows 

disappear.

I can make those shadows 

real as paper dolls.

[LSS, 1/20/21]