supernovice

it's chilly
and i have just returned from
the company of a girlfriend i
won't be seeing again any time soon
(a fate you know all too well)
who awkwardly educated me
over dusty, guilt-ridden cigarettes
on the truths i cannot ask of my mother
(who is not ready to bear another of my burdens
yet.)

as we walked into the glaring scrutiny
of an all night pharmacy and pressed through
aisles filled with products i had only seen in commercials
between the shows that occasionally litter my
empty afternoons
we quietly discussed facial regimes, music
and all of the unhealthy things we (i) have done
in the past few months, both latently wishing
for some miracle to scream out of the small
rectangular boxes "listen-you're okay".