I’ve been chewing the asphalt for the past seventeen years
and I can taste every abandoned household
burnt rubber and misogyny
highways make it impossible for roadside conversation
accidents aren’t really accidents
so just know the scars on her arms aren’t from her cat
and alcohol is good at creating new problems
they never tell you in textbooks
that heartbreak hurts a lot more than scraped knees
and that a good bye is never actually a good bye
unless one of you is dead
whether in the grocery store
or on the side of a street,
the next time you see them
you will be reminded why the waves
continue to reach back for the shore
but also why you can never hold water
in your palms for longer than a few moments.