Out of our minds on a pleasant Sunday afternoon

I like the guy across the street
I think he’s a vet but I can’t be sure
I’ve never met him
he has a nice little house
smoke coming out of the chimney in the winter
like the American dream
in the summer he mows the lawn incessantly
I think he has OCD
I try real hard not to get annoyed
by the obnoxious tractor going on and on
but his madness triggers mine
sometimes I feel like screaming “It’s already mowed!”
he looks at me like
I’m a nervous wreck
maybe he feels like screaming
“It’s just the noise of a tractor!”
we don’t scream, though
we just look at each other
out of our minds—
two mental neighbors
waving hi sometimes
just to make sure
the other hasn’t completely lost it

Daniel J. Flore III
Daniel J. Flore III’s fifth poetry book WRITTEN IN THE DUST IN THE CEILING FAN from dead man’s press ink is available <a href="[URL]https://www.amazon.com/Written-Dust-Ceiling-Daniel-Flore/dp/B09GQGMNJ7/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1634171153&refinements=p_27%3ADaniel+J+Flore+III&s=books&sr=1-1[/URL]"]here.[/a]
Cover Image:sue hughes