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