Category: while you were looking the other way

• April 22, 2023

  caterwaul.

  

  the caterpillars have come back, once again sporting such April fashion sense. first spring of Season 2. seemingly recent arrivals crawling along the catwalk with with all the determination of a a young upstart. single undulating inch draped with a fur coat of pale-yellow static. bright dandelion faces on a mission. depending on the angle,…
• December 31, 2022

  corner pocket, 2018

  

  corner pocket, corner pocket, corner pocket, i called it.                this game of 9 ball started in mid-March, that was the break. the thunderbolt, sledge hammer that shattered the rack, dissolved the pact, sent numbers spinning.                and i blinked, missing the moment where the 1 got away, a sly ghost-out into the side. but…
• December 9, 2022

  smile.

  

  I took a moment, on my way to work, to stare at an anthill. Close to 11 in the AM, so my shortcut through the park should have been free from the rampaging sneakers of tireless children; chasing squirrels, undersized soccer balls, or one another. Their interchanging directions switching from one interest to the next.…
• September 1, 2022

  i am a lefty.

  

  So I remember that certain sixth grade school in Santiago, where it was dictated that all children complete their written assignments strictly in fountain pen. Insert cartridge. Tap the tip long enough to make it wet. Get to work. Always what was assigned, rote. Always what was demanded, always cursive. And my born, raised and…
• April 18, 2022

  backchannels.

  Waited until past one in the a.m. to open the window. Snuck out onto the rooftop. Well past curfew. Limber steps leaving bare impressions on shingles and corrupted gutters. Stealthy against the current of stars and an outdated moon, moving towards yesterday me. Taking it slow at the outset. Pressing my body close as patrol…
• April 12, 2022

  tell me.

  that’s just it, i said. everything tastes. and that’s what makes the best of memories unbearable. sent two strokes down along her arm, back up.  your pillowcase. the bench where we used to laugh over loaded drinks. the tree i once climbed without an exit plan, the bark, leaves, roots, dirt under my fingernails. separated…
• February 11, 2022

  red blend.

  woke up with the relatable moments of her lips on mine. a swell sense of divine, same as the 9.45 sunshine. blanket on the floor. both of us intertwined in a white sheet that went under a bruise, over her thigh, over mine, down, under and all around. red hair flowing along all of that,…
• February 7, 2022

  monday.

  i’ll take you up and along this this staircase if you’re willing to take the steps. we’ll call first and second as left and right foot, for either one of us. depending. on whether third and fourth have anything to say about our legs, calves, upward thighs, maybe one not quite as present as the…
• January 31, 2022

  tell me.

  that’s just it, i said. everything tastes. and that’s what makes the best of memories unbearable. sent two strokes down along her arm, back up.  your pillowcase. the bench where we used to laugh over loaded drinks. the tree i once climbed without an exit plan, the bark, leaves, roots, dirt under my fingernails. separated…
• January 21, 2022

  i stand by my mailbox and wait.

  “Do you know what it’s like to have a brain like this?” she screamed, stood up suddenly. Shins hard against the coffee table, destabilizing drinks, dirty dishes, bills, receipts, and an electric nest of bobby pins. “Thinking? Always thinking, with the knowledge that there is no clear intelligence at work? This brain can’t build bridges,…