Page 60 of Wayfarers
Knox I’m Happy, Right?
My smile is authentic but so
is your smile when you hold
an impossibly fragile and tiny creature,
a newborn kitten with fur so fine
it doesn’t register on your fingers’
nerve endings, a duckling fuzzed
the color of young and ecstatic summer.
The smile that comes from holding
something that’s bringing you uncontainable bliss and all
the while, you’re ruminating
on how easy it would be
to destroy it in spite
of your most careful and pure intentions.
Now I wonder if this is why
my mom made us perpetual fugitives.
If you never hold anything precious
for long enough, you never need fear
ruining it with your reckless touch.
Knox
“Salt and vinegar?” Sylvie says.
“You sound outraged.”
“You can’t just suggest a gigantic bag of salt and vinegar chips. Or even a bag.”
“Why not?”
“That’s an extremely strong flavor choice.”
“I thought they were pretty universally adored. I thought they were the fries and ketchup of the chip world.”
“You thought chips that smell like feet are universally adored?”
“Sylvie! Gross! And this is coming from someone who’s endured less-than-hygienic living circumstances.”
“The truth hurts.”
“They’re the healthiest chip.”
