Karina Muranaga

M

e

n

u

:

Mashed Potatoes Brussel Sprouts Vegan Pasta Black Tea C h a m p o r o n Napa Wine GlutenFree Carrot Cake & a single serving of filet minon for Milton

Seating

Arrangements:

No one will enjoy dinner if Vanessa is not on the left side, sitting closest to the window.

To continue this civil dinner Ramon will sit at the head; find my special chipped wine glass.

Patricia and Luis. Seat across from Janette to get back at them for last Christmas. His cashemere jacket will not survive past the appetizers.

To pull me apart,

As the dial spins,

tear me down.

and minds go numb,

A latent curse,

as people lie, and others fall,

you push me down.

Like constant drips into a well.

what is beauty?

A silicon-pumped body grown in the captivity of a good life.

Destroy me once, shame on me.

A dying soul, having seen more red than gold.

But I can’t change what I’m forced to see.

The look in their eyes, when you break their beliefs.

I don’t believe there’s a path layed out,

The chaos that ensues, when our minds start to shift, start to break, but break open.

‘My God!” Can’t people, just wait to find out?

What others will throw in your face, in your mind.

Just leave all those hopeless hope behind.

If nothing out there, is truly ugly; If vthe quiet is, quite loud enough, just give it up.

The atom of a molecule, of a cell, of the air, of a movement sensed, enter through my fingers.

In through your lungs.

But don’t let it reach the inside pucker of your lips; crawl through the cracks of your bleach white teeth.

Built from a feeling, a past comment by a friend, of a belief taught from childhood, engraved in minds, a brick in the wall.

Whatever works for you.

“The snake that cannot shed its skin, perishes.”

In short, skins, nails, hair, scales, rotten, planted, flucked, pulled, torn, peeled, shed, turned, ripped, undone, take off, keep off, put off, avoid, uncover, reveal, refresh, refurnish, love my furniture, it’s nice to nurture, retouch, not too much, moisture, nourish, rubbish, feed, read, expand, grow, add on, just tag along, so repeat.

But the more you take away, the more you shed. Shed walls, shed reconceived everything. From the start we are told to keep gaining and experiencing, to live life to the fullest. To savor every moment and appreciate the little things. The walls built to keep you safe, the big, strong barriors set for ourselves aren’t to be ignored, and certainly nothing further.

Regret is not remorse, it not return, is not an opportunity to repeat.

April 21, 1997: Plane crashes over Hudson.

14 killed, 13 missing.

Plane destined for Paris, chief officer at the scene reported. Engine failed when a bird, or presumably a rather well-sized flock, was caught in the propeller.

Because isn’t it the little things that make the big things seem pompous and insignificant.