many animals were harmed in the production process  

How many of us have gone to a job interview with an orchid blooming  inside their throat? Please, don’t be anxious. Howler monkeys begin each new day crying at the sun to remind us of the hopelessness of money. I have not swum in the magnificent artificial lake inside the Burj Khalifa. Have not climbed the record 163 floors, pausing for a low-key moment along the way to lean against the polished handrail of the observation deck just to wince at the relentless spectacle of spatial achievement. I have yet even to tug my buzzed body through the bright aisles of Kroger in my after-work fatigue and purchase what I need with fading looks. Instead, I have the sound of you biting into an apple in the afternoon, the omnipresent, gold-flecked dust settling in front of an old arched window, and the clouds—  

god damn, man, the clouds . . .  
each one can weigh up to one million pounds, and so earnestly,  
as if gift-wrapping a prescription for a long misplaced medicine, 
they know when to fall apart inside the dry air.