I thought today about time. If I could travel in it. No one would ever be dead to me. I could visit the past the future, then it came crashing down. They would never be dead. But one day, I would be.

In the stillness,
Your presence lingers with me,
even when you're gone.

There is a hint of warmth back in the air,
And the mourning doves are back to mourn me,
Cooing their familiar song
Because every spring they return
They no longer recognize me.
The gray-feathered birds eat seeds in the yard
And perch on rooftops and tree branches
To cry out in sorrow.
They cry because another version of me is dead.

with every bit of new information
i shove more gauze into the wound

kept a smile
through that
tornado
of impatient
anger
and said
"please,
come again"
you wild
bag of wind

we’re kids
we don’t know what
the hell we’re doing
all we know is
it felt good,
then it really
hurt