a difference of interpretation

some of us
never read the owner's manual
to
our own lives.

as a matter of fact,
we probably burned it,
sometime
between birth
and highschool,

but
in our defense
we probably just wanted to
study
the effects of fire.

so instead
we learned everything
on our own,
and rewrote
that owner's manual
with nothing but our guts.

and if you ask just about anyone
they will tell you
that your guts
are just no substitute
for
standard black ink.

and then
you might nod
just to pretend that you're paying attention.

but really
you're just thinking in terms
of
the carcinogen content
of standard black ink.