Originally published 16/09/2020

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The Only Thing That Gets Me Through the Day is My VHS Copy of Space Jam

By A.J. Flanagan

Speaking ruins the atmosphere.

Built-up romanticism fades

behind the veneer put on

by cordiality.

Don’t make friends uncomfortable

with honesty.

Spout, please, a practiced

version of yourself.

Hide behind a shell

too sad to ever admit

breaking

while fake-smiling until

the cows come home.

Cows, of course, aren’t

intelligent enough to

understand why your

scowls aren’t meant

to be off-putting, that

they’re just your face.

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