I look up the spelling of tzatziki.
Microsoft Word suggests “tatami.”
I wonder why it knows the word
for a type of Japanese flooring
but not the Mediterranean
yogurt and cucumber dip.

I look up the spelling of minutiae.
Singular, minutia. But who would
ever handle one minutia?
No one I know. Minutiae is
pronounced muh—NOO—shee—ee.
Has anyone ever used the long
double “e” in conversation?

I write:
Militant minutiae march
across the stage.
It only takes a minute to
make their matters known.

I cross it out. My tummy hurts.
I think about puns involving
tzatziki and the feeling of “icky”.

My eyes flit over to my notes and
I glance at the first three lines:

-to swallow whole the sea

-impasse

-a glass of red wine in a theater of dreams

Oh, my love! My dream! There’s an
entire ocean raging inside me. But,
for too many reasons, we can’t
break free.