10 October 2025
the standup’s reply
a smile woke on her face
a hint of some funny, half-called sin
recalled, or perhaps a simple
ambiguity, plenary to an extent
such as it can be in a cafe moment
when the din is right, the question
not quite heard – though understood
because several muscles on your face
did the right thing, without any help
from earnestness or a lumen
of cognition from the assembled
life within – radical cool
had died a long time ago, and
plain-and-simple was the order
of the day – to disobey, what
could possibly go wrong?