We were dandelion seeds cast out by the aimlessly reaching kick of a child
a God who we had never heard from
as we ran amok the coast of North Carolina
the beach calling to us a challenge sent forth from the end of all things
an experience that would stay with us well after we had washed the sand from between our toes
The world was lit up through a golden screen of carelessness
and our sunburned skin quickly hardened and the salt made it leathery
drinking from the chalice of fading youth
we came alive like machines and hailed the night
the nights where we became a wash in lust and solo cups full of tears
tears we never let loose because we needed all the water we could get
we ate space cake and counted the stars as they blinked at us
urging us to communicate and comprehend the message of the forever unfurling cosmos
The mornings were ruby and sapphire clashing where heaven meets the horizon
and in the cold grasp of the Atlantic we were baptized
emerging fresh and innocent and smooth
The seagulls left us alone after sensing our leap into desperation
and every face was the face of a long lost friend
we never knew we even had
Police cars were taxis and untold punchlines
and the word adult was blasphemy
we bathed our arms in holy fire and sent smoke signals out to nobody
which read:
we are here in the midst of all things. We are what we make of ourselves and we reserve the right to not know the answers
dancing inside the expansive night of your mouth
where each tooth protruding from pink exclamation was its own full moon
and your tongue an opal rendition of the sisyphusian tides
we eroded our soul against the ceaseless crash of waves
and fell asleep where we were last standing
we took hallucinogenic mushrooms and spat in the face of the old ideals
and in the chaos all we were really trying to do
was forge ourselves strong
in all the places we feared were most vulnerable
we wanted to come out of it strong
unchanged
wholly us
…
but did we?