Reason for Visit: Other

 

I was trying to do one normal thing:
Return an oil diffuser
That smells like a migraine’s childhood home

Print Label Schedule Pickup? No. Drop off. 

I passed three urgent cares, a cryotherapy spa, a Friendly’s 

I ordered a Fribble worth the distress diarrhea 

The road got quieter the way a mind does
Before it starts finding evidence

Then I saw a body of water flat as a screen

At first I thought it was a pool
But the closer I got

The more it looked like an interface

SELECT A REASON FOR YOUR VISIT

Fear/Resentment/Bloating/Other

A man standing there said 

You can’t be here
I said I’m not here

The water moved like a file buffering

Something bobbed near edge
I pretended not to notice so I wouldn’t have to die

A dark shape, maybe a tire, maybe a head
Maybe the part of me that says sorry
Before it knows what happened

Then realizes six months later 

And never speaks to you again

He said

This pool is not for swimming, not for drowning 

Just somewhere to stand and watch your feelings
Become someone else’s property.

I placed the diffuser on the ground
An offering that promised atmosphere

I turned around and didn’t try to explain

Because I respect my time now