let''s not talk today

let's not talk today
your wife
tells you at the breakfast table.
we get along
so well when we
are silent,
not discussing
anything of importance.
you nod in agreement. okay,
but can I say,
good morning?
yes, she says, but that's
it, okay?
deal, you say.
buttering your toast,
crunching down
on the whole wheat
with raisons that she picked
out at the store.
she nods. doing a pretend
zipper with her fingers
across her lips.
you nod, then get up
to go to work. you both
wave.
then she says, wait a minute,
you aren't really
going to wear
that shirt to work
today, are you?
I hate that shirt.