Transcript

I’m Major Jackson and this is The Slowdown.

Forgive this bit of brag. It is cosmically impossible for me to become a cantankerous misanthrope. It’s just not in my genes. I never dish a mean, impolite, or sarcastic remark about anyone. Okay, I rarely do, which makes me uninteresting for sure.

But there are times I feel myself devolving into a malcontent. As when, an Uber driver fails to pick up the cues. I wish for silence. I am often at the start of my day, having thrown back the covers only 30 minutes prior. Yet, the driver fires off a bunch of questions, some of a personal nature. The barrage has me longing for the thick acrylic partition of a taxi.

But, I empathize. I, too, am curious when I meet someone new. I let loose a cascade of inquiries. The more distinct I find the person, the greater my wonder, and probably, the greater my nuisance. I am anxious to connect with people. Over time, I have learned to accept that not everyone wants to be my friend. Maybe it’s a bit of hubris to think anyone would want to welcome me into their life.

I wish us not to slide over each other’s lives, but there are limits to becoming too familiar. What if the conversation is not well-intentioned, but packed with assumptions, or worse? I thought as much reading today’s poem, one where the speaker themself is silent, subject not only to a barrage of trapping questions, but also to the weight of their own journey.

Milestone 2 (We Laugh About the Weather, its Permanence)
by Divya Victor

457 S Mariposa Ave
Los Angeles, CA

                                                                                                             Head north on S Mariposa Ave
                                                                                                             toward W 4th St
                                                                                                             0.2 miles
your uber has arrived
how are you today?
where are you from?                                                               Turn left onto W 3rd St
where are your parents from?                                           0.6 miles
how many years have you lived here?
do you like it here?
are you able to bear the winters?
are they good to you at work?                                           Turn right onto S Western Ave
do you go back often?                                                            0.3 miles
is your family here?
when will they come?
how does your wife like the movies here?
when will her papers be cleared?                                    Turn left onto W 1st St
are your parents in good health?                                     0.3 miles
how often do you see them?
do they like it there, without you?
where is your landlord from?                                              Turn left onto N Wilton Pl
have the flights become more expensive?                0.7 miles
when will the rains come this year?
will you be able to vote in that election?
when will the dam developers come?
when will your sister’s wedding be?                              Turn left onto Melrose Ave
will you be able to go for the wedding?                        0.1 mile
when will you see your children?
what is your daughter’s name?
how often do you have to send money
home?
when did they sell the buffalo?
how often can you send the insulin kits?
has the cost of onions gone up, again?
when did your father pass away?                                   Turn right onto N Van Ness Ave
when will they sell the farm?                                              0.1 mile
how soon will the wells dry up?                                        Destination will be on the right
when did your mother stop sleeping?    

“Milestone 2 (We Laugh About the Weather, Its Permanence)” by Divya Victor from CURB ©2021 Divya Victor. Used by permission of Nightboat Books.