I will not eat until I have spoken my words.
I understand the sensibility
though I usually say I will not
drink until I have spoken my words.
Once, in Long Beach, a city
that someday may not exist
I was invited to speak my words.
It was at a bar where people
often speak their words, regardless
of whether anyone is listening.
I had one of the things they
serve at the bar, and then when
it was my turn to speak my words
because I’m a lightweight
my words at the microphone
dribbled out of my mouth
like the guy with his finger
in a hole in Amsterdam
had given up.
My words weren’t the shape
they were supposed to be
and I did not go home
with the trophy.
I learned then there is
a certain order to things.
Number one:
Say your words first
before you drink or eat.
The words are the imperative.
The eat and drink are the reward.
Number two:
I probably shouldn’t have
numbered this because
I don’t have a number two.
Number three: Be consistent
with your words. Sometimes
the details change in the retelling.
We are a people of the words.
We won’t get to take our b’sheret
home from the well
if we’re a glutton at the table
if we forget why we brought
our camels here in the first place.