NEW POEM *storm drains*
For six months or so,
I haven't really been writing.
I've been letting half decent ideas
Slip between the gaps in the sidewalk
waiting for the bus
watching them get washed down the storm drains.
Storm drains big enough for small children.
This is bizarre to me
Where I come from
Only water can slip down the drains
And here,
Every time we have a storm
I imagine a whole cities worth of water
and eight year olds
being washed out to sea.
I imagine trying to fit myself in those
Gaping toothless smiles
Built right into the curb
But I would not fit
I do not have the fluidity of water
Or the resilient grace of a child.
I have gained, recently
the hard cement colored edge of adulthood
meanwhile, I still find
the cocky/obstinate world view left over from 10th grade
sitting in my mouth
I am somewhere between
believing in magic
and knowing magic is bullshit.
I am somewhere between fitting into storm drains
And knowing how poisoned the water is.
I haven't really been writing.
I've been letting half decent ideas
Slip between the gaps in the sidewalk
waiting for the bus
watching them get washed down the storm drains.
Storm drains big enough for small children.
This is bizarre to me
Where I come from
Only water can slip down the drains
And here,
Every time we have a storm
I imagine a whole cities worth of water
and eight year olds
being washed out to sea.
I imagine trying to fit myself in those
Gaping toothless smiles
Built right into the curb
But I would not fit
I do not have the fluidity of water
Or the resilient grace of a child.
I have gained, recently
the hard cement colored edge of adulthood
meanwhile, I still find
the cocky/obstinate world view left over from 10th grade
sitting in my mouth
I am somewhere between
believing in magic
and knowing magic is bullshit.
I am somewhere between fitting into storm drains
And knowing how poisoned the water is.