The roof of my mouth feels weird, like too aware of itself, like there's a phantom popcorn kernel stuck up there somewhere and i can't stop worrying at it with my tongue i guess that's what all this is, isn't it? the new field and nashville and the stupid cat, just me worrying at a phantom kernel, a feeling that something's missing and i can't quite place it, something that everyone else seems to have figured out, like there's a secret handshake and mochi's the only one who knows the steps and i keep pretending i'm not jealous of a cat but it's true, he just knows.