Happy Thoughts and Happy Actions

Rami Obeid

We are mice in the lion’s cage —

believe me,

I’ve thought about it too

but I don’t know where to get

that kind of control

Department Store:

you grew taller than the

last time I saw you —

I don’t know what you do

but I chain-smoke to Chopin

If you do anything,

keep doing it, even if that is the thing that

eventually kills you

or drives you insane;

As long as you are able to see tomorrow

I am worse off now than I was last year,

I am twenty-one with the body of my grandfather

It’s the curiosity

which keeps me going —

I want to see how worse it can get

Rami Obeid is a poet from Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is a staff member for Versification Zine. He has been published in numerous online and print publications. His chapbook, Marooned on the Shores of Malaise, is forthcoming from Whispering Wick. Follow him on twitter @obeid_ro.