Category Is: Casually Cruel
What is…
texting back “K.”
dog-earring the pages of a borrowed book
pretending to press the open button for the elevator when someone is coming
using your ex’s Netflix account
turning someone’s name into a verb
looking at what someone else created and saying, “Hm. Interesting.”
ghosting after the second date
offering a hand-warm beer
skipping a song without asking
sending a secondhand wedding invite
calling a woman someone’s wife instead of using her name
killing a Daddy Long Legs
not telling someone their fly is down
leaving a used tissue on a desk
cursing an accident for slowing down traffic
mispronouncing someone’s name “because it’s funny”
serving coffee with grounds in the bottom
7 thoughts on "Category Is: Casually Cruel"
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great, the more casual the more cruel
Love the specificity of this list poem.
love your varied and colorful choices for this list
I wonder what would come of a daily log. Has this grown? Did you feel variant escalations of cruelty as you wrote? Was it difficult to remain in the nonchalant? A poem that directly paints the kindness of its speaker through negation, I found myself hanging line to line. I’m pretty sure my blood pressure went up as well. Maggie, as ever, brava!
Each of these engages us in thinking why, whether. Provocative poem.
Very interesting poem to read, having been the victim of somethings and guilty of others. Nobody’s immune to being cruel.
Love this list poem– and how it calls us all out.