Your norm, my luxury

Summer trips are your norms

They’re merely distant luxuries for me

Your grandiose house is your norm

My rent for this shack is a luxury 

Your cultural experiences are your norm

Being able to mimic it via internet is my luxury 

Your carefreeness and happiness is your norm

Reality orientation and knowing my limitations is my ball and chain norm

Baker’s Edge

I wonder how many batters I’ve made

trying to finally find that one perfect recipe

No, not even perfect. Perfection is too much for me to ask, my mate

Just something that’ll satiate my undying desire to make a decent cookie

First blame the recipe from online

Then doubt the oven

But maybe it was the impatience that made the cookies rather sublime

Or the overuse of baking soda that turned the cookies into mutant muffins

I’m not giving up – just taking a break

Looking for other things to do in the meanwhile

There’s more opportunities for me to bake

I’ll make my break worthwhile

Default Friend

Plan B,

I’m the one you go to when your options have been depleted

When you want something different from the usual

When you want to take a break from those you need to impress

Back up,

You’re the one I go to when I’m in dire need for someone I can be real with

When I want to embrace and be embraced

When I want some fun in my otherwise boring day

Side ho,

I’m the one you go to when your other friends are busy

When you feel like staying local and winding down

When you want to spend less effort but reap much admiration

Default friend

Never the first option, never the one that first pops into your head

Never the one you spill all of your frivolous stories to

Never the one you talk to the most

Never really an equal relationship

Never really just a low-maintenance friend

But always the unchanging constant to rely on

Past the Smile

You smile as if nothing happened

As if this breaking news isn’t breaking your world

You smile as if the article you’re reading is truly humorous

As if it was truly funny enough to distract you

You smile as if you weren’t hurt

As if the careless words people vomit on you

and repercussions of others’ stupid actions didn’t hurt you

You smile as if you’re all right

As if I don’t see past the smile

But I now know you enough to see past your smile

The pained smile that you put on like an armor

The Wonder Woman you feign to be

The sacrifices you make trying to reassure me

so that I could have a peace of mind

I see past the smile