Keeping warm

I am writing this from my tiny apartment in Madison, Wisconsin. I have realized the low rent I pay is directly related to the fact that I overlook an intersection on the preferred street of emergency vehicles, which means they lay heavily on the horn, at all hours of the night, to cross through red lights. It does not bother me in the least. The sirens remind me that we are all emergencies, at one time or another. I’m also reminded to turn off the oven.

I recently began my first full-time job working for the state. I am a man who thinks deeply and laboriously about where I am in life, where I could be, and how best to do the right thing at all times. I am surprised to find myself a civil servant, but I believe a government is only as good as the people who run it. I feel I am a good person, so I accept trading my spoken word poet’s cap for an oxford button down and a name badge. I leave work daily feeling fulfilled.

Lastly, I know for certain only a few things.
-My wife and I keep each other warm.
-There is inherent power in a smile.
-Also, in being silent, sometimes.
-Being wronged gives you a unique advantage over the one who wronged you: the ability to forgive him.
-I am afraid of forgetting.

Please try to be safe, creative, and read more short stories. Sometimes, they’re better than novels.


Ben
Wisconsin, USA