i pretend robocalls are from people i miss 

1. Baldwin, NY 11:49am
i've been waiting for you to call
for so long. on nights in august
i think of the times i canceled 
our plans, how i kept a closet
full of sparklers & never used
a single one because i bought
them for us. my bed room 
has no windows now & so i imagine 
you carving one out of the drywall
with your pocket knife.

2. Santa Rosa Beach, FL 1:34pm 
there's a scar on my neck 
from where you bit me. i touch it
when i look at myself in the bathroom mirror,
pretend that it's a rewind-button & 
my body is just a cassette player
tangled with noise-ribbons. 
you plugged your bass into my mouth
& sang a song about loving me.
you had strong hands eager to 
yank any door off its hinges though
you never did so in front of me.
our sex felt like young lions 
wrestling in the brush. 
i bit your ear, you bit my neck. 

3. Aberdeen, MD 4:00pm
anytime someone passes me who smells 
like tropical fruit i think of 
your curly hair & your blue blue backyard pool.
how i sat on the edge while you swam.
the muscles on your back making 
moths with their sculpture. you would
change bathing suites all through 
the afternoon & i loved each iteration,
landscapes printed onto your body:
blue, burst of pink flowers, safari trees.
i wore bikinis to keep up with you
but they always made me feel naked,
like something was going to cut me open.

4. Bath, PA 9:05pm
you were a basket of ripe strawberries
that needed to be eaten right now.
my fingers on your cheeks,
pressing through the skin. freckle seeds.
one after another before you were gone
& i was just another pair of fingers.
i was gentle with the leaves on 
your head. index finger & thumb 
i plucked them off & let them 
drift to the floor like eye-lashes.

5. unknown 11:11pm 
the carnival's light dropped to 
into dark grass like hard candies.
you stood there letting the illuminations
flutter over your skin. i thought
we could be friends & we could 
go swimming in the pond even though
it was covered with a layer of 
wonderful green muck. for weeks
i thought of how we locked eyes,
neither one willing to be the first
to break away. i invent names for you.
i place dandelions in your hair:
one behind your ear, others to make 
a crown, & one for me to put in my mouth.