Submission Sixty-Eight

We sat out on the deck all night
From 20 feet away the rain fell,
onto the pavement,
where it began to forget itself

the headlights flickered through-
spelling in flashlight:
Last Chance,
Remembrance

The night,
it grew so dark,
we actually had to hold the lighter
at the bottom of our frozen breath
to simulate the sunrise

He had been missing for over 2 weeks
We exchanged journal entries,
tried to pretend like they weren’t eulogies

I grabbed your pinky
whenever a cloud would yell too loudly



I think the best part about growing up
Is not having the time
or ability
to miss someone

Behind our first house their was a Lilac bush
we would play in the backyard on Sundays,
you refused to go near it,
you said it was because
the mirror had made you afraid
of anything too easily beautiful

I think we both knew from a young age
the body makes you work for it

Around 4 a.m
my stomach jumped
It wanted to join the rain
which is to say,
it wanted to forget.
you did what you’ve done our whole lives
patted counter clockwise

the pads of your fingers
felt like Last Chance

Ever since he left
a body part has gone missing,

I think I see him
at the end of a trail of headlights
Collecting the parts of our selves
we tend to forget too easily.

Submitted and Writtend by: Andrew Pine