whirlwind puzzles and bow-tied time, pulsing menageries and lopsided rhymes; circles and rainbows and dark-alleyβd dreams, suns that explode beneath smoothed-over seams.
But between the cracks of the never-ending skyline live shadows and demons and sewage-filled pipelines.
There are toy-soldier boys carrying small metal knives, their sharp-tongued solutions highlight well-thought-out lies; and the bubble-gum girl armies that ride into the night spread pink viscous poison and dance out of sight.
These spectacular visions linger over my head, with too-full rainbows and ship-wrecked dread; every highlighted secret connects the stars of a time where each piece of the whole was malleable and mine.