Poem: Merchandise mart
Put your right hand over your heart
Haha, like in first grade
Before the twin towers exploded
When things felt so safe
I was so wild
I’d light papers on fire and stand there, with a smile
I didn’t know I’d be a poet
But I knew I’d be a doctor
Didn’t know I’d lose my father
Not once
But twice
Human beings, being rationed
Five grand so it actually happens
Nothing too romantic
Left roses wrapped in plastic
Thank you for the merchandise
Poem (continued): Merchandise mart
Yes, he was
Only your voice
Trembling softly
Telling me the truth
Thinking of finding
You, for the time being
Ready for the evening
A humble pursuit
I don’t want to let go
If I do by chance let you know
I don’t want to let go
If I speak up and ruin my softness
The sand was abrasive
It spread out like marbles
And I was shaking
You kept asking me to stop
Poem (continued): Merchandise mart
Moving like an infant that
Can’t locate sound
Moving like an infant that
Doesn’t think he’ll be found
A trade-in, a day bed, a hospital-sized alarm clock
I watched you roll down the window, like a dream I had slept in, for a very long time
If I ruin my softness
And the ground is abrasive
Will you trust that I always carry first aid with me
Like an emergency medical technician from the Merchandise Mart
The call dropped when I turned left
I thought
Will you trust that
I say what I mean, and I mean what is fair
The call dropped when I turned
Right
Where I decided to finally belong.
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