Mental Note

by Kendra Banach


I press my bare feet against the window
the sun is beating down
but the glass is still cold.

My body heat leaves a thin layer of condensation
I trace a smiley face in it
then wipe my finger vigorously
on the inside of my sweater.

I can still feel the phantom sweat germs lingering.

I’ll make a mental note
to not eat with, or touch my face with, this hand.
Twenty minutes later
my lip itches
and I use that exact finger to scratch it.

I wipe my lip vigorously
on the inner collar of my sweater.

I do not feel clean.

I’ll make a mental note
that if I’m deathly ill in the following week
it was my own fault.