Feb. 12, 2023, 9 p.m.

How do you know what you want / If you don’t tell you?

The Main Event, by stacy-marie ishmael

“How are you doing?” A question when, sincerely presented, demands and merits a sincere response.

“What are you willing to stop doing?” A provocation deployed insufficiently frequently.

“Be specific.” A powerful phrase, made even more so when preceded by a directive to identify and articulate what it is you need.

The task is to live well enough with you. / But how?

Attribution

Does life suddenly reset like an Atari?

Does meaning emerge

Assertively and without invitation?

The task is to live well enough with you.

But how? How do you know what you want

If you don’t tell you? If you don’t hear you?

— from While I Wash My Face I Ask Impossible Questions of Myself and Those Who Love Me by Charif Shanahan

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