Laying on my back
in the alley,
drunk and sick,
I gazed at the blanket of stars.
The cosmos above revealed
itself as an endless sea
of lost hopes
and sacred prayers.
In that moment,
I was free.

-Ron Gavalik

tonight
i manifest your eyes

where I was rash and coarse
he was confidently unconfident
so sure of what he didn't know
he was all soft spoken words, wit dripping off of every word
I wanted his soul
I wanted to memorize the way his eyes twinkled with delight when he talked about something he loved
I wanted to be the thing he loved
he wanted to save the world
I wanted to be his
but I wanted to be the noncommittal sag and run and he was oblivious and beautiful
the world seemed to work against us while simultaneously not caring enough to keep us apart
edging us on long enough for me to fall face flat on the pavement of realization and while mending my bruised ego I sourly admit
****
I fell in love with an aquarius

you belong to no man
to tame is to believe that you are wild
you exist on the edge of normality and thrill
clasping your stars to your chest, so tight you mustn’t hurt yourself
emotions run deeper than I could hope to explore
your feet were always your most prized possession and your dearest friend
putting space between you and the heavy clouds that obscure the light
the sun always comes back around
burning away terrors of the night
warming your tear stained face
the strength you hold inside, kept away for safe keeping
only when the sun comes around do your stars run out to play, hold your hand and run in your field of lovers, pushing away all past obstacles to get you where you need to be
it gets colder before it gets warm
stars need a grey background to shine with all their might

my heart asks about you, what am i to tell her?

At 6:00, I drank
to remember,
to swim in the nectar
of consequences secreted
over a lifetime.
At midnight, I drank
to forget.

—Ron Gavalik