You Are Not Who They Wanted You To Be


But after years enough alone, even the wicked sleep.
Clematis in a window-box creeping the house, one thing overtakes
the next but is forgiven. I name everything in the sky Jupiter and you
its moon claiming a synchronized orbit. No time for specifics, no proof
that we have ever met. Your irregular thought patterns are seen
by a doctor, but when the actual untelevised apocalypse comes I don't want
to be ready, a capsized tugboat blinking in the harbor
is how you'll know I stayed. No advantage now to buying in bulk.
The isolated incidents of suburban shovel-crime in this neighborhood
mean it's ok to ask for help. Your courage changes the world. Your right hand
choking bottles like a songbird; sometimes hopelessness is a lie
feeding your sparrows to the dusk.


- Wendy Xu (from InDigest)

***