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Once
for a whole day
I talked
really slow
at first
because I was
so hung over
champagne
when sitting down
for long stretches
seems so innocuous
but I came to
kind of like it
so I kept at it
on purpose
I became
very slow
at everything
all day
my husband
by afternoon
wondered out loud if
I was missing
an essential vitamin
or something
and the lady at CVS
I was pretty sure
thought I was retarded
she was so
super friendly
and congratulatory
at my independent shopping success

We attended
a party
later that night
and by then
the effect of others
finding me different
was less than
everything becoming different
for me
all the usual people there
to my mind
in slow motion
the details of their dress
their looks, and expressions
flashing, sparkling, echoing, blurring
now not occurring
but captured
and reverenced
I saw them more
and truly
liked them more
a simple effect
of pacing.