A Real Thigmotropism by Doug Paul Case | Really System: Issue Ten

A Real Thigmotropism

Doug Paul Case

One can aim to be timeless and still

There's no way to know if there'll be kitchens in the future

Maybe everyone will only eat Chinese takeout

Maybe everyone will save their mandarin chicken for me

I didn't eat any vegetables today

I have not looked at my internet bill in months

I should probably go see a doctor about my wrist

I wouldn't work if I didn't have to

I'd stay home and read Steinbeck all day

In his Log from the Sea of Cortez a surprise octopus suction cups his arm

People should read more travelogues

Or I don't know write them about the time they went to Marfa

I'm super bummed Prada doesn't actually sell anything there

Super bummed I've never stayed in a yurt along the highway

What is the worst way to ruin a photo opportunity

What is the worst way to ruin a long exposure

Do I have to go anywhere or can I just Google it

How many times can I look through the kitchen cabinets

When shopping I never know what I'll want to eat in two days

What would I do without the refrigerator

Grocery stores overwhelm me

Sometimes all I want is for everyone to disappear

Sometimes all I want is a Marie Callender's frozen chocolate pie

Sometimes all I want is to curl up in a pile of bread loaves

This is the year we're living in

No one here knows where that plant came from

Like many things I hate it feels like plastic

Sometimes I forget to water it for months

Maybe it needs a pole to climb up or something

I should probably just plant it outside and wish it well

It's almost November and it's the worst

Doug Paul Case is the poetry editor of Word Riot and the author of two chapbooks: College Town (Porkbelly Press, 2015) and Something to Hide My Face In (Seven Kitchens, 2015). His work has recently appeared in Devil's Lake, Whiskey Island, Ghost Ocean, and Hobart.

ISSUE TEN: Satyrs Yell "Me!" | next poem →