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Josh Romig - 2 poems

6/22/2016

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Picture
1. To Do List

Wake up earlier

Spend less time online
Spend more time outside
Every day, do something that scares you

Take more deep breaths
Realize you can't control certain things
Dance naked to 90s music when no one else is home

Meet new people
Meet old people – they have better stories
Listen to more people's stories
Learn to see things from different angles
Learn to look for Better Angels
Walk more
Drink more water
Drink less caffeine
Don't leave the coffeepot on when you leave the house 
Be more aware of your bad habits
Be more patient with others' bad habits 

Seek something every day 
- even if you don't find what you're looking for, 
at least you won't have wasted the day

Don't start smoking – despite what you may have heard 
about what it does for stress
Worry less -
about what you can change
Change what you can
Stop writing cliches

Stop blaming your inaction on your home town
or your parents
or your emotional instability
Take responsibility for your inaction

Read more often – 
you have books you haven't touched, ever
Write by the water – 
the white noise of river helps you think

Return more favors – 
people have been kind to you
Be kind to more people

Don't small talk – 
small talk is for small minds
Don't ruin a good conversation by talking too much
Make something every day 
(art, love, decisions, etc)

Go to bed earlier

***
2. Short Poems About Our New Neighbors

Across the court yard
The amorous twentysomethings
Open their window for the first time

They let the sun shine in -
They do not believe in curtains -
They let the sunshine in

He is Adonis
She is Mona Lisa
I hate them so much

It’s five in the morning
Our child screams us awake
Meanwhile, they sleep until noon

Passing by the window
I glimpse at the lovers entwined
“Not tonight” you yawn

Our friends are laughing
About what, we cannot tell
All we see is their love

He brings her breakfast in bed
Maybe it’s a birthday present? 
Or he really screwed up

They’ve become background noise
Only witnessed in passing
Or referenced in our idle conversation

A few weeks have passed
Their room is empty and still
We almost forget they were ever there

She sits on her bed and stares at nothing 
She has not moved for hours –
A lonely still life

Adonis is waning
His eyes are sinking, and he’s losing hair
He’s become a walking skeleton

He does not move much these days
All of the time, she waits by his side
For whatever comes next

I keep telling you
That he will soon recover
I have to believe this

He's sitting up today
Telling jokes and laughing,
She's cracking that famous smile

The room is now full
With what must be family and friends
Saying their goodbyes
​
She is being cradled
by, I think, her mother – or aunt
We weep along 

The guests are now long gone
The silence settles like dust
She holds his hand while he fades

Soon, it will be just her (and us)
Left in this quiet room
Alone
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