1058

crawling on your knees
baby please validate
she took off the apron
showed the sunburn
blistered on her thighs
“Ain’t that something?”

half naked on the floor
with the window open
smoking weed given to him
by his neighbor
old movies
you wouldn’t have liked
it then or would you have

“you’ve got me housed
in a red barn
with old plows
and
and
shit.”
well you laughed
like it was the funniest
thing he said
I climbed down from the roof
split my palm
gripping the gutter

when she lit a cigarette
leaning over me
he said
“God I think I’m going to die”
and I agreed
fell down inside myself

that was it for a while

then at four
a friend painted us
lying on the floor
in front of the fireplace
the soft curves of her
stomach peeking out underneath
my skinny arms

when she cooked dinner
and whispered over the sink
something horrible
he said didn’t say much
just ate from the skillet
and nodded
that’s right