reminders that we’re not living in a completely industrial hellscape.

sunrises.
birds.
music.
coffee.

pizza exists!
and chocolate chip cookies.
laughter.
making love.

poetry.
pottery.
fuck it, Pottery Barn!
a couch you didn’t earn but will nap on anyway.

the ocean.
the trees.
the backs of beautiful girls’ knees.
that soft place where summer rests.

handwritten notes.
late trains that still get you home.
dogs who forgive immediately.
Taco Bell!

old movies on sick days.
used bookstores that smell like dust and hope.
pay phones that won’t work but still listen.
wasting time in record stores. 

shared fries.
pancakes for the table!
extra guac.
stretching in the morning without pain.

cheap wine in real glasses.
expensive champagne in red solo cups. 
a song that knows your childhood.
a green light all the way through town.

windows open at night.
rain that doesn’t ask permission.
sleep that arrives unannounced.
an empty row on an airplane.

warm laundry.
something you thought you lost.
finding money in old coats.
inside jokes that survive decades.

the first sip of cold water.
the last slice nobody claimed.
stretch marks that tell the truth.
forgiveness that sneaks up on you.

sirens that fade instead of arrive.
a voicemail you never delete.
library cards.
love!

bare feet on tile.
a good pen.
crossing something off a list.
underlined sentences that underline you.

the smell of fresh bread.
the sound of a screen door shutting in autumn.
the luxury of boredom.
plans canceled kindly.

holding hands at red lights.
laughing in the wrong place.
crying in the right one.
silence that isn’t lonely.

a stranger saying bless you.
weather that matches your mood.
someone remembering your name.
leftovers that taste better.

late sunsets.
early mercy.
love.
love!