all poems and photographs
© by Maya Stein

all poems and photographs
© by Maya Stein
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Monday, May 02, 2005

how to say yes

begin by making
your own espresso.
read
for one whole hour.
clear the countertops
of last week's mail.
do not attempt heroic acts
of laundry.
go outside.
stretch, from your calves,
toward jasmine.
this is how to say yes.

this is how to say yes.
ignore the shower.
stay dirty.
quell the urge
to vacuum.
fingerpaint instead.
make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
add potato chips, baby carrots.
drink from a juice box.
no, slurp.
return the overdue book.
write the overdue check.
forget about
the overdue phone call.
this is how to say yes.

this is how to say yes.
take the trash, finally,
out of your car.
drive anywhere.
find Britney Spears on the radio.
sing with her.
come back
the long way.
have a glass of good wine with dinner.
inhale
a piece of chocolate cake.
fall briefly asleep on the couch.
luxuriate in the surprising warmth
of a thin throw blanket.
wake up long enough
to tell someone you love them
over the phone.
realize, after you hang up,
how much you meant it.
carry the thought
upstairs to bed.
tuck yourself in.
notice the grace
of your closing eyelids.
this
is how to say yes.

4 comments:

dweezila said...

and I'm not just saying this because you know, but yes, definitely yes. Yes to everything you said. Yes to all of it baby, yes.

Anonymous said...

absolutely wonderful! cut out, taped to mirror in the bathroom and reminding me of how for every day to come it couldn't have come at a better time

Anonymous said...

Just beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Perfect