Seas of mud
Lost a shoe in the shuffle
back there, that’s what they told me.
All I can do is double knot
with stiff fingers and quick prayers
and trust in the metal holding
me to earth that we run
instead of slide like skaters
soaring through brown ice.
The guys lope like gentlemen,
silent companions as I enter
the shadows of the valley
where beer bottles loiter like the drunk
in the bushes and creases of the trees.
Look straight ahead, my legs marching
like a part of the band, listening
to the silent beat, synchronized runners
running from the sins of older men, women.
Bus leaves at dawn,
before the sun has bothered
to duck out of bed. Grab a pillow
or a friend and snooze before the race rises
in fiery splendor. The way back is nothing
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
but wind, familiar scent of sweat,
friendship songs like the Irish back in Dublin.
Hill day strips us all of pride,
the muscles of the body beating
like a heart, inching up and down
the land like caterpillars. Ride the rush
of freshly mowed green
like a rollercoaster in reverse—
rush the ups, coast the downs.
We chat through slits of breath,
just two bodies following the mold of the earth,
rising and falling like inevitable tides.
New love, true love
My new love was sleek
as Teslas, smart as a California
tux or the math teacher I slept through.
Her glow was a nightlight,
a haze of blurred stars in my living room
—my vivacious xbox,
wires curled just so,
her mind racing a million
miles a minute.
These were the glory days of Halo,
circling the rings, finger on the trigger
as we chatted through the headphone waves
to people countries and continents apart.
We engaged in negotiations, idle chit chat,
jumped-started friendships and smack talked
with the best of them.
And when the game stretched
into the view of your parents
and we had to hit the neighborhood streets
to stretch our legs, we mounted ripsticks
like spaceships and ran
the cul-de-sac ring,
mouths pumping faster than our legs
as we discussed strategy,
two army generals in t-shirts and shorts.