This decade, only later

"What are you thinking about?"

She asked me

I sipped my beer.

I was thinking about an old girlfriend and

about her nose. About the way it 

crinkled when I told her something 

funny

I'm thinking about flamingos, I told her

I Lied, I did - to make talk, small. 

Pink is such a ridiculous color for a bird, I said.

God must have a very funny sense of humor, I said.

"Colors are all science," 

she said 

and she flapped her mouth

"They are all just pigments being reflected by the sun." 

You don't think God is very funny?

I asked 

I do not believe in god,

she said.

I took her home and kissed her below her waist 

We slept together, 

clumsily

Because we were     unfamiliar. 

And it made us both thirsty

I asked her, 

Why don't you believe in God, anymore? 

She poked at a 

freckle. 

"I do not believe in god anymore because 

I work 

in a hospital," 

she said. 

And today I watched a man take his 

last breath

his last shuddering     breath, 

and all at once his skin

changed color and he died.

Oh,

 I said

She started to cry.

I rolled over and held my breath 

until I fell

asleep.