I pretend for a moment
that I understand something
anything at all
Then try to explain it to myself
following the infinite thoughts that led me
to this imagined understanding
I draw a circle of words
and try to see through their noise what they meant
but I can’t remember them
I threw away all the boxes of college notes
that I used to take with great speed
They landed on my paper as soon as the instructor spoke
knowledge now largely lost to me
There was an entire notebook about plant-water relationships
Now all I know is that they wilt when they are too dry
On my shelf is a text titled The Social Insects
The strange terminology there is now a foreign language
So I just watch the bees foraging on the basil that has gone to seed
It’s possible I never really understood anything
My mind was a puppet dancing on strings
The only things I understand now are
the smell of the wood smoke
the Corona mysteriously burning my tongue and thoughts
the sound of the salmon sizzling on the grill
and the joy of the October wind
