I search for a pen in my bag but all I can find is lipstick, so these words are written with my lips, not my hands. I listen to The Mountain Goats on Spotify as I watch a soundless how to make the perfect steak sandwich video, taught by Paul. Paul is teaching me how to be perfect. I’m a vegetarian and I don’t believe in perfection.

I conduct a casual survey on the street. Do you think it’s strange to pour milk into the bowl before the cereal? The results are mixed. One person confessed with unnecessary passion, “I HATE soggy textures.” Cereal should only be eaten by putting a spoonful of cereal into ones mouth and then drinking a swig of milk from a glass, if one is forced to eat cereal at all.” The person walks away disgruntled. I shout, “NOTED.”

Another woman tells me that she wants to be buried in a pet cemetery between a Goldendoodle named, “Chomsky” and a Poodle named, “Rath”. I tell her this information is not related to the survey being conducted. “Who knows who I could be buried next to in a human cemetery? I don’t want to risk being buried next to some pervert.”

Noted.           

Katrina Underwood graduated from Northeastern Illinois University finishing her B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Philosophy. She has been published in BALDHIP online magazine, Chicon Street Poets and SEEDS Literary & Visual Arts Journal. Katrina runs Mail Poetry with writer Nick Pecuccui, a weekly, creative endeavor of sending original poems to mailboxes throughout the country. You can find her on Instagram at mail.poetry.