There was a word search on the back

There was a word search on the back.

I found IRON, then THIAMINE,

then NIACIN—circled them in pen

with a focus the morning didn't deserve.

The night before, the conversation

had gone the way those conversations go:

a lot of words that meant other words,

and everyone tired at the end of it.

I read the nutrition facts.

Serving size: three-quarters of a cup.

Riboflavin: twenty-five percent

of your daily recommended value.

A cereal box doesn't care about you.

It has a lot to say

and all of it is useful

and none of it is about last night.

I circled WHEAT. Felt briefly okay.

Then felt worse for having felt okay,

which is a pattern I recognize

and haven't figured out how to break.

The coffee had gone cold

somewhere in there.

I drank it anyway.