do not forget the lies
that history told you
as you continue on
to spread your own.

he said I crumple up when I laugh

it's sad how
easily
people can break you.

and now nina smokes vapes
on the quad with a new group
of friends that say things like,
do you have a dealer to every
dreaded black guy that passes by
and she talks really loud about
how fingers feel far far on the
inside and she laughs really
quiet at jokes that make sense,
and she never writes anymore
about how life makes no sense.

No one's ever died.

Everyone keeps living
and breathing
the same air.

No one's ever died before.
We just keep on recycling
their breaths.

the woman who helped me out of my car after my accident had a Jack Johnson tour t-shirt on and a pair of shades that she pulled off to meet my eyes, every time I lose faith I hum Good People and think back to her and her soothing, mother-like voice. I try not to think about the way her face began to fade the minute I stood before her. I try not to think about whether she remembers me, a solid year later whenever she passes the thrift store I was thinking about stopping in to. I try not to remember everything but her voice and Jack's as he sang me into a clear haze.

I am
as
quick
as your
tongue.