No 2: DOG DAY ELEGY

PHOTO BY CASEY REBECCA FRIEDMAN

CASEY REBECCA FRIEDMAN

The yellow flowers on the trees that cried golden pollen tears for me.

The smell of chlorine soaked into skin.

The summer sun basking it in.

Fingertips rolling like tear-tracks down a cheek.

The dog licking the blisters off our feet.

And the bruise on your shoulder that you got for me.

That you picked out and showed me as if I would be pleased.

The shine of the moon and the green glow beneath our feet.

And the knowledge that never again would we be

like this.

The sticky dew on our cheeks as the new day came.

The dawn that set fire to the whole sky

and charred your face.

The goodbye that felt like tearing the scabs from our knees.

The metallic pulsing as we started to bleed.

The fresh tracks inching down our calves toward our feet.

Fresh red tears for these freshly dying moments

as they seeped like blood into dirt,

and soiled into memories.

For never again like this would we be.