shoebox | a poetry collection

- suspended gold

two months,
sixty-two days.
smiles & laughs &
cherry-colored lips;
frozen.

toss change,
here & there a
penny or a dime
— a quarter?
rusting in the bottom
of that old wishing well.

flick a nickel,
to wish you well.
lines severed &
words cut in half &
memories present,
achingly.

sixty-two days,
a few more with you.
gone, passed, not
forgotten.

friendship months solid,
cracked with a slip-up.
sorry;
i was splitting at my
loose thread seams.

music spilled in
starlight &
confessions slipped
at dawn;
a novelty, fresh
print in the romance
section.

two months of laughter,
too-little sleep —
regrets? no.
love? i can't ever tell.

months of blossoms
& flowers petaling,
frantic note-taking
& evening practice
— and after?

summertime grainy in
sepia, orange & yellow
in an abstract painting.
laughter & smiles &
gnawing worries.

fall approaching,
leaves yellowing.
anxious to see if
paths will cross &
words be whispered
again.

keep polaroids shiny,
don't crack memories;
leave two months
( sixty-two days )
blissfully alone.

- a. ; 8.14.21