{"id":3383,"date":"2006-05-17T18:27:18","date_gmt":"2006-05-17T23:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com?p=3383"},"modified":"2006-05-17T17:26:58","modified_gmt":"2006-05-17T22:26:58","slug":"if_youre_readin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2006\/05\/17\/if_youre_readin\/","title":{"rendered":"If you’re reading this"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this, you are reading a poem, and you are worried it will be one of those<\/em><\/a> poems, the kind that is confusing, precious, and obscure. The kind someone makes you read.<\/p>\n\n

If you’re reading this, you’re choosing to do so, probably wondering whether poetry is worth your time and energy, since “normal” writing is much more rewarding, and the weekend is coming up. It is a good question to ask while you’re reading this.<\/p>\n\n

If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this at work, you are thinking about your boss discovering that you spent the whole afternoon dawdling on the internet. But your timepass<\/a> is our business, so please keep dawdling. Your boss needs to read this too.<\/p>\n\n

If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this, and I hope you are, you may be waiting for me to get to the point. If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this, I\u00c2\u2019m thrilled. I thought I\u00c2\u2019d lost you at the Capitol steps years ago, on a day when everything ended too soon, and no one had any knowledge at all of the hard road ahead. But you disappeared that day into a mosh pit, and it\u00c2\u2019s really quite unlikely that you\u00c2\u2019re reading this.<\/p>\n\n

If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this in a beautiful room<\/a> with a view of the ocean, I am probably envious of your life. I am resigned to rocking the suburbs.<\/p>\n\n

If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this, I want to impress you this time around. I know the last thing<\/a> I wrote wasn\u00c2\u2019t so hot, though it had some good bits, if I do say so myself. I know you\u00c2\u2019re busy, and you\u00c2\u2019re probably just skimming anyways, so I\u00c2\u2019ll keep it short.<\/p>\n\n

If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this, are we friends again? I\u00c2\u2019m sorry for what I did, and I take back what I said.<\/p>\n\n

If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this in China, you may be breaking the law<\/a>, but it\u00c2\u2019s a stupid law, so I\u00c2\u2019m glad you\u00c2\u2019re reading this.<\/p>\n\n

If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this in Delhi<\/a>, Bombay<\/a>, Chennai<\/a>, or indeed, Taiwan<\/a>, either I\u00c2\u2019m asleep right now, or you\u00c2\u2019re up very late at night, or we\u00c2\u2019re both awake, but in rather different moods. Consider the gap in time and space. How can we connect?<\/p>\n\n

If you’re reading this on your mobile phone, you probably have Manish to thank<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this looking for lyrical precision and poetic wisdom that is hard and clean and perfect like a diamond<\/a>, sorry to disappoint you yet again. This poem is only a dusty mirror hanging under the buzz of fluorescent lights in a hallway someone may or may not reach.<\/p>\n\n

If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this in a toilet stall<\/a>, try coming back here tomorrow around the same time. You know what to do.<\/p>\n\n

If you’re reading this in a literary magazine<\/a>, then clearly it must be pretty good.<\/p>\n\n

If you\u00c2\u2019re still reading this, thank you for reading this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u00c2\u2019re reading this, you are reading a poem, and you are worried it will be one of those poems, the kind that is confusing, precious, and obscure. The kind someone makes you read. If you’re reading this, you’re choosing … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[33],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3383"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}