"five minutes,"
Edda answers,
"five minutes is
all you need to know
if someone is kind"
(dialogue excerpt from
Tales of Red Vienna^)

and I'm thinking
snap!
let us rephrase the question

how many
poems
does it take to know
if someone is kind?

One, ten, a hundred or this.
my six hundred and thirty fourth?

the play continues without me,
the debate grows vociferous bitter,
the voices of My Disunited Nations Mind
all ignore the Rules of Order,
each crying out
"just one, just me"

then a little one,
from way in the back
soft and small,
therefore commanding,
to the podium comes:

"Two
Any two
Pick any two
In any order
The first to know,
The second to confirm"

All voices stilled
as the proposition
passes unanimously
(by silent voice vote, of course!)

take two
pick any two
then call me in the morning
tell me how you're feeling
and if the answer to the question
is satisfactory

back to the play,
the 30 second intermission is over