Some older once watched me drink a cup of coffee
in thirty seconds flat, I was fourteen and a half
and he said, "Don't ever take up alcohol."
I wish I'd listened. Some nights
I crave my mama's cooking, the smell
of the ocean, the strong and solid arms
of some boy I used to love
but Southern is the only comfort I can reach.

Falling asleep alone in a spinning bed is the room's
dying laughter after a good joke. Curl up. Roll over. Stretch
out. Reach for your phone to scroll for a number
you deleted again hours ago, just in case this happened.
Do you know how this happened?

The first sip went down like an accidental gulp of saltwater,
on a dark beach in late May, out of a thermos
we buried when it was empty. The rest
went down easy.