The Next Apartment

The next apartment is going to have more windows

It's going to look out onto a vast city

And allow me to view it

Without feeling overwhelmed

The next apartment will be in walking distance

Of a pizza parlor and a coffee shop

And NOT a Starbucks

A regular coffee shop

With ridiculous pillows

And a boy behind the cash register

Who has a lip ring

And a name

Like Otempo

The next apartment will have hardwood floors

And get so cold in the winter

That the guy I'm dating

Will hold me every second we're together

If not for the love

Then for the heat

Oh, I forgot to mention

The next apartment

Will come with a guy

A really amazing guy

Who might be Otempo

And might not be

And either way

Is the best boyfriend

I've ever had

The next apartment will have built-in bookshelves

And a breakfast nook

And an island in the kitchen

With one of those racks

You can hang pans over

I've always wanted to eat

Underneath my own cookware

The next apartment will have two more bathrooms

Than I actually need

And less closet space

So that I buy less clothing

That I know I'm never going to wear

It'll have better neighbors

An upstairs neighbor who plays piano

On Sunday afternoons

While I read my newspaper

And a downstairs neighbor

Who bakes fresh bread

And then brings some up to me

Once she's finished

The next apartment will be in the middle of everything

But it'll have thick walls

So that I can block out the outside...

No, never mind

Never mind that

I think I've blocked out the outside world enough

If I wanted to do that

I could just stay here

I could stay in this apartment

And I'm going to

I'm going to stay here

Because I'm not sure

I'm not sure yet

Where my next apartment is

But I know what it looks like

And when I'm ready for it

It'll be there

And I'll pack my stuff

And make this place

My old place