4 Poem by Lauren Michaels

We spent our night sharing
In the heavy, almost stagnant air
Smoking to sweeten the taste
And because she says
She doesn’t know how else
To Relax.
And the more of each other we share
The more our edges refuse to blur together
The sharper the contrast,
And she tells me in a whisper
That Every Step Is Just So Hard
And in my youth I am silent.
Mouth open and searching
Swallowing vowels.
I leave soon after because
Her weakeness is like a grittiness
On my memories
and it shames me
Sadly enough.
And I dream of going home
Where I can be
Sans raisannable raison d’etre
Of disappointing her
Of dead autumn leaves and
The comfortable cold of October,
But when I wake the sky is itself
The heat is oppressive
And its breeze is that of things decaying.