In My Natural Habitat

It did occur to me, yes

that babyhood is a good time

to demand boundless love

not because you are helpless

but because you are harmless.

This was at Duval and 38th right after someone honked at me because the light was green

and had been for some time.

I was on my bike, trying to grow back into something

I had grown out of, like a hermit crab rewound.

Did you know those little guys get in a line according to size so they can move into a shell that fits in quick succession and minimize the time they are exposed and homeless? I watched a video of this narrated by David Attenborough—they form an orderly queue for the exchange.

Remarkable.

But in this video

one latecomer

muscles his way in

and steals the last crab’s shell.

Remarkable.

I mean the hate I feel.

Do you know what color the light has been

You know already that I did not

really turn around and say this

to the teenager in the car.

You do not need to be told how little happened.