Happy Birthday

Facebook wall:
screens of quick-slap backslap happy birthdays
like yelled across a noisy bar
like look at me
talking to

I searched through a shop for ten minutes or more
to find the perfect card —
A black one with a
Took it to the
Waited in line
Looked in my purse
Paid
Made small talk with the
Waited for change
Put away my
Went home

Took up my pen, wrote some
In my own struggle-for-control scrawl —
to be legible,
to not miss—
Signed, closed,
slid into its envelope, using
both my hands

Address looked up,
copied carefully onto the

Tear a stamp from a sheet, 2 fingers & thumb,
tearing 3 perforated sides,
lick & stick, tongue & fingers

Put my address on the back — in case —
Drive to the , park, tell the kids to
Get out of the
Bless the envelope and
send it into the

All that still not enough for
someone like
so I write this, too.