No 4: CAUTION BEFORE USE

PHOTO BY LUCIA AUERBACH

CASEY FRIEDMAN

I woke up this morning with the sunrise.

I was looking for something to watch.

Cable TV doesn’t exist anymore and 

I’m tired of surfing the streams.

Too many tough decisions to make.

I’ve never been one to decide.

I broke my tooth on the telephone cord.

I was angry for all of the times

I bit into something thinking it was fruit 

just to find metal wires inside. 

I called you last week just to check in

but I don’t think you wanted to talk.

I’ve never been good at reading the cues.

Or maybe I just don’t want to look.

The words on the page only get smaller as I age. 

I never wear my glasses now.

I joked it’s a statement against academic elitism.

I think I just want to be blind. 

The back of the label says caution before use,

but what if I never check that side?

The fine print always has the side effects

and I have a one-track mind.