hard and fast

my sister sits
at her kitchen table
shooting the chandelier
with a rifle.

pellets of glass
explode all around her
like frozen peas bursting
in their pods.

if i have learnt one lesson
from my family,
it is that no rule
is hard and fast.

Veronica

Veronica had a toothpaste stain on her black button-up shirt and a plate of cold eggs in front of her. It was immediately apparent that nothing had changed. Well one thing had changed. I had come to the realisation that in a situation like ours, there are only two actions that you can take. You can either let go and walk away. Or you can hold on tighter than ever.

I had arranged this meeting with Veronica, out of the blue, because I had the intention of performing the latter action. However, this was not going to be a simple task. We had not seen each other for three years. And then there was the matter of 'The Curse'.

I noticed her from the moment I walked into the café because she was doing her typical nervous thing. Whilst pretending to read the newspaper she would neurotically survey the room over the top of the page. Pathological behaviour such as this, that most people would find unconscionable, was what made me want her back like nothing I had ever wanted before.

always will be

of course strange things
had been happening in the sky.

i had been reading murakami all night.

fed on visions of highly saturated
disaster, magic items of clothing
and

convinced
that some things are
inevitable

even before they begin.