Joy by Isabella Macioce

Despite the evidence against it 
my father’s voice in my head or the weight on my shoulders 
the crick in my neck
I still believe that people are good 
it might be because of the two women in central park 
who are sweating to death in their crisp pantsuits
who giggle nervously between themselves for 6 whole minutes 
before sidling up to a stranger and asking to play with his dog
Or maybe it’s the group of teenage boys in the airport 
who can’t stop laughing and it rings with sincerity you only see in stolen moments |
and in London where everyone wears grey 
there is a woman with  yellow pants 
and the man on the phone  starts the conversation with 
“man fuck you” and ends with “please get home safe”
the woman sitting on the hostel floor in Amsterdam tells me about the soulmate she met on the bus 
from Spain this morning and
will never see again but she says it will all be okay 
as long as she can find someone to dance with tonight 
and my sister studies plants for the joy of it 
and my mother keeps breathing through the divorce 
and I am in real love for the first time in my life and he texts me good morning and I have so much joy 
and finally 
places to put it 
and I always root for loose change in my pockets for those who ask 
and kind words under my tongue
for those in need
and my heart has been broken and love still blooms here I am still garden despite the floods 
and the only other woman in the bar in Budapest walks through life 
in a different language but with the same tone 
and she tells me I am something special
and I tell her she is lying to
and she grins so wide and it’s like god looking right at me and she says maybe! 
Bella I could be lying about everything 
we all could be 
and my name passed her lips which means
in this version of the universe she knows my name
and whether it matters or not I am part this is a part of our little stories now 
and we will never see each other again 
and we dance and drink to that
to the simple and spectacular 
to the good and good enough
small and wonderful 
us