mister was lollygagging more than usual or i was more antsy to get to the lake. a girl in the greasy spoon saw him trundle by and thought he was homeless and ran out to call him but he couldn't hear her and then she saw he was with me and i said well now you have to meet and she fell in love and he put his snout under her dress and smiled up at me. we talked about the love of animals and she said her yorkie is eighteen and sleeps all the time and she knows they don't have much time and i said the same, and in general it feels that way, we may have a lot or a little but it feels like we have almost no time left, and yet, and yet, the patriarchy could come to a miraculous crashing halt tomorrow if we get the equal rights amendment and all the people rise up and say no more deaths and no more rape culture.
we said there's too much hate and mister is a missionary of love. then we wished each other a good day. at the corner a grim bust driver looks at mister, backs up, looks at me, looks at mister, looks at me mutters, what the fuck. it happens that a hater might come right after a lover like that, and might taint the love with hate, but in my mind i hold the two up and toss the hater over my shoulder like a pipsqueak nincompoop.