summer afternoons 
tend to feel like mornings 
as spring classes wind down 
and there’s a breath before fall 

the dogs clobber around upstairs 
making their voices known 
the cats meow and beg
even after a big meal

the dollar store blanket
shields the sunlight
from peaking through

not yet ready to face the day
still tired from late night chatting
but cars rev up their engines
leaving for day jobs, errands,
only they know

and we just sit here talking
as the yellowed walls watch us
spots telling their own story

the floor has its own city
cluttered in trinkets
which we swear
we’ll clean this weekend

and here i sit
all cozy in my favorite blanket
ignoring holes that make my legs cold

on our thrifted couch
thrown out by the neighbor
guess that’s why trash can be treasure

we just talk for hours
forgetting about the world
and all its responsibilities

about the rent due in 3 days
the electricity due in 4
the apartment
that’s just falling apart

but who cares?
when this kind of safety
means everything to me
a kind of safety that I’ve never known.