when you write the novel of your life

think of the cover first

imagine

being lonely in an airport bored

and there it is

the author's name in gold

the title gleaming underneath

the blurb succinct

then decide

how many pages

the more the better

maybe a thousand

you can always

trim it later

next the minor characters

with unlikely names

and scenes in places

where you've never been before

don't forget

the quality of paper

acidic

with no inserts

for photographs

someone like you

should rely on what they write

not what they do

or who happened

to say look at the camera

smile

and let's try one more time

so long

ago