In this hospital room everything is mint-colored and between the little girl with the broken leg and the old man who is dying there is a thin curtain. They have never seen each other. Each night the little girl sings to the old man. He always wants to hear the same song. She doesn’t mind.

I think of you still in the morning and mostly in the night when I dip into myself I think of you I whisper all the things I want to tell you all of the small meaningless items of the day mean something to me and maybe to you. I think of you still after every bad conversation and when he touches the small of my back I think of you. still.

Word of the Day Saturday December 10, 2011 adytum \ad-i-tuhm\ , noun: 1. A sacred place that the public is forbidden to enter; an inner shrine. 2. The most sacred or reserved part of any place of worship. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… But still. There is a moon and you are looking at it and I am looking at it.

Word of the Day Saturday December 10, 2011 adytum \ad-i-tuhm\ , noun: 1. A sacred place that the public is forbidden to enter; an inner shrine. 2. The most sacred or reserved part of any place of worship. ....................................................................................................................................... I tell this empty room the things I used to tell you. I tell the white walls my secrets and the details of my days. It’s not the same but in a way it’s not that different.

Word of the Day Friday, November 04, 2011 prehensible \pri-HEN-suh-buhl\ , adjective; 1. Able to be seized or grasped. ........................................................................................................... I don't remember the last thing you said. The stairs creaked and you seemed taller than usual. I turned away and in the wind I felt opaque and empty. Curled into myself I imagined a cold sea full of open oysters There were no pearls.

Word of the Day for Tuesday, October 25, 2011 mesmerize \MEZ-muh-rahyz\, verb: 1. To spellbind; fascinate. 2. To hypnotize. 3. To compel by fascination. ......................................................................................................................................... I watched you in the kitchen fixing dinner. You didn't cry when you cut the onions and though you knew I was there you sort of didn't. Across the bar I caught your eye you smiled and then you looked away or maybe I looked away and the jazz played. I looked for you in your sleep and all the places you were and weren't. I could have looked at you forever if only you had let me.

Word of the Day Saturday, October 22, 2011 anomie \AN-uh-mee\ , noun; 1. A sense of loneliness and anxiety; a state or condition characterized by a breakdown or absence of social norms and values, as in the case of uprooted people. .................................................................................................................................................................... It's been two years, maybe three now. You look the same. I don’t. When you see me trying not to be seen, your shoulders tense. You walk over and touch my arm, and say "So what's new?" like you're asking for the square root of pi. Either way I’m not sure I know the answer.

Word of the Day Monday, October 03, 2011 billow \BIL-oh\ , verb; 1. To rise or roll in or like a great wave; surge. 2. To swell out, puff up, etc., as by the action of wind. 3. To make rise, surge, swell. noun: 1. A great wave or surge of the sea. 2. Any surging mass. ........................................................................................................................................ The night is swollen and under the tangled trees I run my fingertips across the yellowing leaves. The leaves hang wet and heavy they have no memory still they whisper my mistakes into my long, tangled hair. I wanted more than this. Under the tangled trees I am holding on and out listening to dying leaves and swelling with my own silence. There must be more than this.

Word of the Day Thursday, September 29, 2011 woolgathering \WOOL-gath-(uh)-ring\ , adjective; 1. Indulgence in idle daydreaming. .......................................................................... I lie on the floor because it prevents forgetting. The wood is smooth beneath my cheek and in between my body and the ground my heartbeat is trapped like a moth. The plaintive music plays and the sharp sweet pricks don't draw blood just conclusions. I'm here.

Word of the Day for Tuesday, September 27, 2011 gadabout \GAD-uh-bout\, noun: Someone who roams about in search of amusement or social activity. ....................................................................................................................... The streets are wet and hostile the sky closing in on itself like a movie with a bad ending. The wind is sharp and hot its caresses sting like careless words or constant pretending. That warm maple sleep seems far far away and in this game there's no winning just ending.