at sleepovers
we’d bang on my keyboard and
eat cheap pizzas and
lay on the floor and
wake up with spider bites.
those friends,
i have to give it to them.
their houses were nice and showy
and their parents had things and made money.
how they managed to sleep on my basement floor,
on those thrifted air mattresses
that whizzed and sank all night,
and kept coming back
they must’ve really liked me.
the fullness of life
often comes in the most unexpected moments
ignited by the fire of dreaming together—
purpose illuminated by the sparks of passion
shared over vintage wine & late nights
laughter
tears
fear
and joy
sweet dreams are made of these
moments when you find you do not walk alone,
but rather, we journey together.
What other pleasure
equivalates
to dirt under fingernails
and cucumbers in the fridge?
Today, street corn: salty and dripping,
steaming hot
sitting next to baptisia: past-bloom but pre-
rattle.
Everything was potential for hours; soaked and sewn,
tasted and seen.
My bones are ripening. Oh, this fantastic
ache.
10:11p
I want to be out of this place
with trailer parks and dollar stores
across the road with bright lights
and low prices that are just too good
a renewed kind of feudalism
every single worn out hill
I know it’s the backbone
and what it is like to stand
at the top and look out at the wonder
thick trees covering up humanity
momentarily erasing us from the equation
a mistake left to run its course
I used to believe I could live
somewhere else
but this cast iron in my blood
isn’t going anywhere
and the drawling slaughter of words
that some call charming
will stick with me
just like cancer that so many
around here try and pray away
cause there’s no money for anyone
only false gods, lottery, and fake magic
carried and pushed
leaves blow into and out of view
the alley gives a closed gap of reality
snapshots of people’s everyday lives
the perfect appetizer for the real world
Valleys and mountains,
Hands fold shapes, true hearts breathe lives.
Rustle and crinkle.
Rip, flip, not crumple!
A universe in a jar:
Stars wink, wings flutter.
Lives walk from thin squares of paper
Once smiles sweat into spirited creatures.
