astronauts

there were several children, and they were all spoiled
in ways that made you think of milk.

and when you looked at them,
you wanted to use the expression
"high time"
to the full extent of the law.

at last weeks dinner party
where everyone was invited
even if they didn't show up
someone mentioned something
about people they’d met down at cape kennedy
with the air of an expiration date
under their collars.

jane said we shouldn’t talk about these things,
that there were better things to talk about,
and that she was looking for an extra grill rack.

that night in bed i told jane that i’d hoped they’d become astronauts
and spent their life out in space
making some sort of contribution
or studying how long man can survive on ice cream alone.

the next morning while jane slept i got up out of bed
and washed all of last night's dishes.
i put on some cut offs, and threw four things into the dryer
with a dryer sheet.

out my window i saw several glaciers
moving by the window very slowly
and just out of sight.