and i remember summer of 18 like it was yesterday
too nice and partially to blame for the salt in your little sister's eyes
i was the debt collector coming to the door on your mind
banging with force on your prefrontal cortex
penny and dime you for your decisions and your relations and anticipated sex
-
still have the note you gave me, urging me into sneaking up to room 405
you hid in the closet but the adults were never too mad when it came to us in particular and the rules we defied
your heart so malleable, telling me you would love me until your dying breath
i thought i would be first, we'd be opposites and you'd lay me to rest
-
sometimes i wonder how to do this without the green eyes i loved so much
sometimes i wonder how you derail my poems into wild rants that cease to seem beautiful to others in my eyes
i must confess i still text your number, hoping for a miracle
hoping for a life where i move back to the small town where we met
-
a life where i no longer use "sticky sweet summer" to describe the more humid months of the timepiece our universe uses
a life where i wear pretty maxi dresses with itchy fabric to visit the supermarket once a week, barefoot feet on scalding pavement
romanticizing a life with a small pet to accompany me on my journey while i sleep through the more unbearable hours
romanticizing a life where i visit all the places we once were, all those decades ago, falling asleep perfectly sober on park benches
-
feeling my lips go cold, knowing that i'll finally reunite with the one i've lost all those years ago
feeling the dreams materialize, last night i dreamt of a two coffins, connected hands and a tube
and as morbid as it sounds, it reminded me of you
- A.H.

