because this is what we do

we arrive to our parties an hour after they start. we know full well when we are supposed to be there, but we show up late anyway. we don’t have any prior engagements, but we act like we do.
and we make sure we’re dressed well, but not too well. enough to impress, but not enough to be over-dressed. you can’t overdo it. you have to look good, you know, but not like you tried to.
and we don’t talk to anyone we don’t know. and we make sure our gaze doesn’t wander for too long, because we have enough friends and lovers and we don’t need you.
and as soon as the party is starting to decline, we make our way to a bar, bring a few friends with us because we can’t stay in one place too long, because we have other places to go we must move on to bigger and better things we must get out of here.
this is how we keep our friends, and this is how we keep our social standing, because this is the way it is. because this what we do.

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Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers
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