Happy Birthday.

1
For your birthday I thought to give you a
Beautiful woman who spoke in broken English
Who spoke while the water lines beneath us
Exploded over a dusty street in India
erasing the chalk outlines of who we ever were
before we ever denied ever being strangers, only

I couldn’t afford, India or the woman or the water beneath our feet
Nor would I want give you anything broken.

2
For your birthday I considered getting you a cookie jar for your house
but gifts like a cookie jars consistently get returned
When the store asks for a reason, it is always: I don’t need one
What people mean is: because it is meaningless
But then I reassessed the situation and decided I would get one anyway
Only not a cookie jar but a coffee maker
Because you need one but I sent this along for meaning
from my cookie jar heart.

3
For your birthday I think I’ll give you a truck
stop blow job and traffic jammed bed sheets and that under each of my fingertips I’ll carry static electricity
when the screaming sirens pass maybe I’ll give you
rest and maybe then I’ll lay cherry blossomed kisses on your dreams
these things make me feel like
I’ve taken non-drowsy cold medicine, btw

4
For your birthday I will not answer my phone should it ring. I will be a long distance runner with stockpiled reasoning. I will ask politely, that the pigeons stay away and carry a bb gun instead of a phone, in my purse.

5
For your birthday I want you to know that I’m glad you’re here, that your hair is too short to ever work as an umbrella that I’ve been growing mine out that I was walking this way and it was eventual and I am glad we crossed paths and that I’m confused that is the middle of October, that it feels like July.

Oh also on your birthday I wanted to remind you, that I really like the gray slightly above your ear. I find it irresistible.