June 4th

You're
the word

the word that eases
itself out into traffic
merges on the freeway
matching our speed
all glossy grey
dings in the hood like you needed a mouth guard

the word
I say,
tired of explaining
soothes the problem
of other minds

You're showing up in dictionaries
lovably redundant and
oh-so-personable

crackling the air
made of gasoline and salt water
dry like white noise

can't stop saying
the word.