Do you ever get
that nagging sense
that we’re kidding ourselves
to think that we could
ever make it together?
Me neither.
Please pretend to appreciate
this card. If you opened it
in front of me, I’m probably
looking at you now
while you’re reading it,
waiting for some expression
of approval to register
on your face. Or if I’m not
there, you might need to
make a similar expression
next time you see me
in person. In any case, please
try to make that expression
appear genuine and heartfelt.
Yours is a beauty
that has to be experienced
in person to be truly
appreciated, a beauty
that radiates in action –
moving this way, or that, or just
talking, laughing, breathing –
a rare beauty that cannot be
frozen in any one moment.
I guess that’s why you look
so awful in pictures.
I thought of so many things
to do for you
that you would’ve loved.
But I didn’t want it to look
like I was trying too hard.
You mean so much to me…
…that I’m willing to spend
a few whole dollars
on a greeting card.
I only bought this because
you seem to appreciate
the gesture of giving
a greeting card.
And I would rather oblige
than think of something better.
If I knew exactly what to say…
…then I sure as hell
wouldn’t be giving you
a greeting card.
When I bought this card,
I was feeling good
about our relationship.
But now that you’re reading it,
things might’ve changed.
You’re one of those people
who’s only pretty because
you’re almost …
…you come so close to being
completely repulsive
that the sense of danger
in teetering on that brink
gives your look an excitement
that’s somehow attractive,
like if a butterfly had flapped
its wings somewhere
the moment you were born,
everything might’ve been different
enough to make manifest
your face’s latent hideousness.
Know what I mean?
