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    If You’re Happy I’m Happy

     

    by John Gallaher

     

     

    My cat is losing his mind.  He’ll only eat from his bowl

     

    when I walk over to it and act like I’m putting food 

     

    in it.  There’s usually already food in it.  I stand there 

     

    some mornings imagining it’s 2045, though I’ve never gotten 

     

    that specific.  I’m writing a letter.  Dear so-and-so, I’m 

     

    hungry, and I had this cat once who would only drink 

     

    from the toilet.  I had to leave the lid up, and I had this 

     

    recurring fear the lid would fall, killing him.  We all get 

     

    fragile in our ways.  So I imagine all the ways I can keep 

     

    the toilet seat from falling.  I could remove it.  Or tape.  

     

    Or perhaps I’m just overreacting.  I’ve been told that I 

     

    overreact.  Right now, as an example, I’m listening 

     

    to Leonard Cohen sing, where he’s writing a letter, which 

     

    is probably why I’m thinking of writing a letter.  Maybe 

     

    that’s not overreacting.  I think I’m getting the concept 

     

    all wrong, which is something that happened on Tuesday 

     

    as well, where I conflated people watching a TV show 

     

    about a serial killer and how we were all talking about capital 

     

    punishment.  It felt like a connection to me, how we were 

     

    saying this and this about hanging or firing squads, and I 

     

    grew depressed about the human condition, and it got me 

     

    thinking about how the serial killer was popular, that it 

     

    seemed people liked him, and I was thinking about how 

     

    we get ourselves to places where things like killing someone 

     

    and bringing your own plastic splatter sheets is OK to 

     

    watch, and maybe even while having ice cream or something.  

     

    It’s not the same at all, I was told, how that and the one 

     

    blank in the squad, the one blank shot, operate.  So here 

     

    I am on Thursday, and I’m saying hello to the people I 

     

    come across.  I’m asking them about their day, leaning in 

     

    just a little.  It shows warmth.  It shows how we care.

     

     

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