A Beautiful Woman Once Told Me by James Babbs

I needed to get out in the sun more
she told me I needed to do more
outdoor kinds of activities
she knew I wasn’t a very physical person
I read a lot and always
carried a pen and paper with me
and wrote things in my notebook
maybe
she was just trying to tell me
I was a pasty-faced white guy
without hurting my feelings
she told me I should try to be happy
as if happiness were simply a switch
I could just flip off and on
she didn’t seem to understand
how I enjoyed just sitting with her
sunday mornings on the couch
sharing the paper with her
taking each section from her
after she was finished
and reading it myself
drinking a cup or two of coffee
just sitting there
gazing at her every now and then
until she playfully slapped my arm
and told me to stop
I haven’t seen her in years
the last I knew
she got married to somebody else
and moved to a different town

James Babbs is a writer, a dreamer, a three-time loser and an all-around nice guy who just wants to be left alone. James is the author of Disturbing The Light(2013) & The Weight of Invisible Things(2013) and has hundreds of poems and a few short stories scattered all over the internet.