Adam Breier
The Cost of Joy
You can choose to drool
at the bowl of chewable pastel mints
next to the Bell Boulevard Diner cash register, ignoring
their exposure to sneezes and coughs, laughter, tears, and spit
or, shape your hand like a crane
dig your fingers and thumb deep
grab your fistful
and feed
trusting
that you
will
digest the good with the bad
and that whatever comes after
was worth the joy
you swallowed.
at the bowl of chewable pastel mints
next to the Bell Boulevard Diner cash register, ignoring
their exposure to sneezes and coughs, laughter, tears, and spit
or, shape your hand like a crane
dig your fingers and thumb deep
grab your fistful
and feed
trusting
that you
will
digest the good with the bad
and that whatever comes after
was worth the joy
you swallowed.
Adam Breier is a Yonkers, NY based poet and educator. He is the author of Mumbled Promises, his debut poetry full-collection forthcoming from The Poetry Lighthouse (2027) in which the poem published included in this issue will also appear. Adam's poetry has appeared in: Thorn & Bloom, The Orange Rose, Three Panels Press, The Northeast Coast, Azarão Literary Journal, Friends of Friends Zine, Mad Persona Magazine, Thistle and Thread Press, and So It Goes: The Kurt Vonnegut Library Literary Journal, among others. You can follow Adam on Instagram @adam_breier_poetry or at adambreier.com.
