May 12, 2026

[insert adjective here]

I’m aiming for patient, for committed. For devoted and loyal. For purposeful,
deliberate, resolute. I’m setting my sights on dogged. On steady. On sure.
Sometimes, I add robust. Sometimes, unflappable. Sometimes, impervious.
Except I’m standing now, as ever, at the foot of the sidewalk that is the rest
of my life, freshly wet from being poured just this morning, and every
morning. And I find myself stumbling into the softest part of the pavement,
leaving divots with my heels. My fiery heels. My bitter heels. And above them,
my kneaded, peppery body. Grainy and honeyed. Malted and saline. Stinging
and glazed. And everywhere, my fibrous, doughy thoughts. My scalded,
skunky memory. My fizzy, soupy wishes. My soft-boiled heart.