two a.m.

at two a.m. she read a poem and fell in love with the words on the paper and the next day she read it aloud to her parents but her parents were more interested in picking out the tile for the kitchen floor and the daily news

and so at two a.m. she read another poem and fell in love with the words on the paper and the next day she read it aloud to her boyfriend but he was more interested in what jersey number he would choose next week and making his hair flip the way that all the boys do

and so at two a.m. she read another poem and fell in love with the words on the paper and the next day she read it aloud to her best friend but she was more interested in the color on her fingernails rather than the colors on the paper

and so at two a.m. she read another poem and fell in love with the words on the paper and the next day she read it aloud to her class but her teacher was more interested in the boys making jokes at the back of the classroom and the wrinkles etched into her features

and so at two a.m. she read a poem and fell in love with the words on the paper and so did everyone else when it was read aloud at her funeral