My best friend calls me to ask me how I feel about everything I reply with “which everything?” There are so many everything's these days I can’t seem to keep up with them They spin in clockwork motion Or maybe more like a wind up toy Twisting and turning with a click until they explode into motion that leaves me breathless There are so many everythings Sometimes they give me whiplash Sometimes I try to ignore them but they grow like an alarm clock, louder and more annoying every minute. I try to kick them down but they are resilient I try to paint them, try to disguise them as oceans and sunsets and birthday clowns But the paint doesn’t stick I try to fold them up like antique clothing in an old dresser But the mothball smell is always there in my nostrils I try to tuck them under the bed, hide them in the closet, abandon them at the supermarket The everythings scare me Reminding me how I am alive Reminding me that I can not escape them They will always be here even when I am not My best friend asks me how I feel about everything I ask him which everything If he means the everthing in which I live in the most beautiful place in the world, thousands of miles from home, I would tell him that is the one I paint as sunsets, too beautiful to ignore If he means the one in which the boy I loved never loved me, I would tell him that is the one I that I try to hide under the bed, but it always makes its way out at night If he means the one in which my grandfather has died recently, I would tell him that is the one I try to hide away in the dresser but I always find myself opening it back up and finding myself wrapped in his hoodie that was given to me If he means the one in which society grows scarier everyday, I would tell him that one is the alarm clock that wakes me shaking and sweating in the middle of the night If he means the everything in which the poetry isn’t enough anymore, I would tell him it’s the one I tried to abandon at the supermarket when buying notebooks and fountain pens and books written by Poe and Bukowski If he means the everything in which people I trust constantly hurt me, I would tell him that is the everything I try to kick down like a stray dog, but I always find myself letting back into my house during a rainstorm But in reality I don’t say any of this He has everythings of his own We all do And they’re always here The everything's do not leave us They are the only friends we keep for life They are the ugliest thing in a sunset The most beautiful thing in a sunrise They contradict themselves constantly You can’t predict their next move And they always leave me breathless