he was first to notice
the ants coming through the front door
“so many so many so many”
i listen to mac miller’s faces
the album we first bonded over
when i want to remember him
at the club, he once said
“she looks like she wants to dance”
pointing to the girl next to me
and he taught me to notice
the bass line of a steely dan song
the sugar of mexican coke
the white flowers on the trees
“so many so many so many”
how to say pain in spanish: dolor
in the back seat of the taxi
he said about making money
“you can either work hard now or later”
with a beautiful woman sitting next to him
he taught me to notice
the yellow flowers on the trees
“so many so many so many”
he said about meritocracy
“what kind of car do you want to drive?”
when he first pointed out
the ants coming through the back door
“so many so many so many”
the old folks on the subway
laughed as they watched him
down a bottle of yogurt-flavored soju
--
Gerard Manogue is a poet from Southern California. He is sending out poems to little magazines again after a long hiatus. He loves the English language. See his other work at gerardmanogue.wordpress.com