Brush burns and bottle caps
Speak new words to the old pools
Carry on, carrion
Decay or flee the scene
Gasoline drinkers unite
And **** ourselves with
Cotton blend bed sheets
New born stitches
On the blood bridge of my nose
Glass breaks in the oven
Literary Societies keep the secrets
Of children grown
Of ice cube foreheads
Of drywall dinner parties
Coffee grounds on branches
God dammnit God dammnit

Marching band drums on the sidewalk
Sound like an indian summer  funeral procession

In school you gazed through Spanish milk glass, turned your head to the back of the room, and (for just a moment) stared into fleeting afternoon eyes

In school you floated over hardwood gymnasium floors, pointed at your wrist, and twitched a sunburnt nose in laughter and secrecy

One September we all went crazy

We drove to your house at 2 a.m., the sky was ink
We shared a beer in your shed and I was drunk after three sips
I jumped out of a moving car to hold your hand for a few more seconds

One September we all went crazy

When we got home she played church hymns on the grand piano
We fell asleep on book bindings and grape tobacco
We wrote nonsense through the phone lines, and fell in love with eachothers shadows

Red plaid shirt
You wore it on the night of our second sober kiss
The end of last November was good to me
We planned out our winter breaks -
We said we lay on the kitchen floor and listen
To a song about sisters
(We know about sisters)
We stood with nervous hands gripping onto the counter
Your parents were home
Holiday breaks hold nostalgia in paper cups
Holiday breaks hold sad Summer magic under frozen high school football fields

Red plaid shirt
You wore it on the night that you forgot her mother was gone
August has always broken my heart
Wether I'm begging for forgiveness from the pine trees in my backyard, or smoking things to gather your attention -
I have never been at peace with the end of an era

We walked home in silence, party hat strings cut from our throats, and tears streaming from the birthday moon

You and your new friends gawked behind us -
forgetting every lap we ever took around your neighborhood
forgetting every song that ever made you cry
forgetting that the worst part about death is that we are expected to go on living

I remember you and me
Lying in her bed
In her bedroom in spring
She was playing that one track on that one record
That reminded us of that previous fall

When we were sitting in my car
The October air was frosted over
From the rear view mirror
We watched our two best friends fall in love on the sidewalk

You were in the seat beside me
You were in my dreams most nights

I remember you and me
Lying in her bed that spring
She was playing  records and proclaiming her love to you
We held hands under the covers and no one knew

The chorus was playing softly
you held my hand tighter with every note
Her tears were raging
We were all just kids

I remember you and me
Lying in her bed
The audience hung in the rafters
Drunk on your *****
Drunk on his beer

That night went on for as long as we needed it to

I know that the summer holds some type of magic
That it somehow becomes a physical reincarnation of nostalgia
Where time stands still when we are given a chance to have the perfect night
Where past loves can meet again, on brick or carpet
For one more night of infatuation and hand holding

Where hate drowns in amaretto or burns out in the sun
And we return to one cohesive group, singing old songs that hold more meaning than any of us realize
We jump to the beat of that one perfect year, entwined in our scents and lisps and favorite beers

I know that when fall returns, we won't be drinking Miller Lite with our best friends on the back porch
You won't be close to saying something real
I will return to bad habits in dark basements
We will all have to go on in real time speed

Leaving the Band of Bad Kids
Breaks my heart every year

Paint in the hills
Blood in her veins
She's playing dead
I have never sobered up
I'm not sure how to
Explain how I love
Just that I do
I cut through glass
With stares across
Tin tables on the deck
He wants to grow
His hair out until
Her heart is healed
Evil Machines on the
Table of Plenty
She belts songs
In the aisle on the
Day in August
When we had no
Idea what we were
Doing, just that we
Were doing something
Inhaling smoke or
Downing coffee from
***** mugs in a strange
Place where people
Laughed while their
Hearts broke at the
Sight of old cameras
And a one time love
Tanned with age and
Forget-me-nots
The sun set but the
Clouds remained
The day ended but
She still can't sleep

I am drinking beer in my best friends garage
Her hair is turning blonde
And I am getting drunker with every bitter sip

I love us

But in this moment
With pop music blaring
And flood lights glowing
I can only think of you

You and your curled hair
On prom night
You and your drunken hands
Last month on her birthday
You and your mouth
You and your mouth
You and your mouth