it feels like the key to something had been found, turned
at last
forgotten

hair the color of turned soil
& july sky eyes
the crook of lips
the comma of hips

suddenly
completely
afraid of the growing dark
i want to eat your light
i wonder if you smile under your mask?
does it make it easier to lie?

skinny tires spill east
under a hard sun through a golden ocean
a country bigger than our problems
as we rush and revel
i thumb my brand new box of matches
rolling on and on and on
a new west

the sun turns grey
we spin and wobble, dancing day blind stars
headless hearts
dry matches
forcing myself open
i pour my indecision into you
i meet myself as a stranger
chests heave, rise, fall, linger, and break

sometimes, i still long for the full binge
i want to eat that light, too
i want the presence of still water
of sky blue eyes
to be so understood, so loved
it’s elegance, it feeds, it surrounds
passing through; settling in
i pull out my matches
& remember how to make fire

_______________________________________________________

LJT | Elkins, West Virginia