april works.

michaelthomasswanberg

I once knew a boy
that always found his way to train tracks
& no matter where he walked
they unfolded in front of him

he still comes to my door some nights,
knocks twice so I know hes living
but the girl im seeing doesn’t like it
so he and i talk & stay quiet
& then quietly he goes back towards dawn
his feet clean metal and clank
his breath like smoke or prayer

I asked him once how the both can leave his lungs
even though they never enter
He kissed my mouth as though that were an answer
then walked off towards the next rusted spike

-----------------------------------------------

I was once red clay,
but you already know this
the natives mixed me with water
to rub on the foreheads of their children

But now I am the granite
Of your shoes
The arch and crack
Of every step

So I know where you are going
& I want to say go back
Back into those trees like storm clouds
Back into a pool of me, and you
And friends we forgot to forget

And I will be that clay again
You can leave me in the sun this time
I will bake and I will brick
i was chip and I will last
------------------------

my voice
Is someplace between my shoelaces
And your bedroom

There are wires between us
Spark and grit
There are oceans between us
There are tides

If I time it right I might find
What I am looking for
at the moment of climax
But I rush and waste

And we both kiss either way
Which does nothing for me
I am spoiled and you are spoiled
And if pressed to find
We wouldn’t even know the difference
---

I was nine years old when she
stuck that perfect landing on the mat.
My family and I on the edge of our seats,
watching America ride the back
of some girl from Tucson, Arizona.

And we didn’t scream or clap
when her score flashed.
We crippled to the mat with her,
we collapsed and were lifted
in her coaches heavy arms.

I was nine years old and I still thought
That I too could spin and flip
Rush the breathe out of strangers
Blow kisses from crutches

But I never learned vault
And I never chalked these hands
And she only taught me how to fall
But no heavy arms were there