microwave minutes

microwave minutes

smudge a line through 

the ink on your leg.

 

remind yourself that a penny

is a penny

but a nickel is auburn hair and 

sun-warmed strawberries.

 

and when your bracelet 

falls off your wrist and curls up

in your palm, 

be relieved that it didn’t hurt.

 

take the bad with the good,

reject the good on its own. 

 

tell your mother your day 

was ground nutmeg 

and chocolate mint

so she believes you’ve

finally 

learned something.