Public art.
14h street — San Francisco, CA.

Artist unknown.

I wish I had been able to take a better photograph of this.
I was having a terrible day when I stumbled upon it, you see, and it really moved me.
I took one of the little strips of paper & put it up on the corkboard over my desk.

“I like you.“
“Hey, I like you.”

I finally got my tattoo.

LACK OF FATALISM CAN BE CHARISMATIC.

If I wear big shoes,

perhaps I’ll be ready to step up?

The captain told me I was the prettiest girl
with a septum ring
he’d ever seen.

From behind us,
the girl with the multicolored hair said,

“Yeah, you’re the only girl I’ve ever seen that really pulls it off.”

I don’t know what to say,
so I blush instead.

& could we take a moment
for the swing in the living room
that creaked under my weight
as I tried to fling myself straight through the ceiling
& into the sky

drink rings.
two johnny depps & a budweiser sweater.

“We should kiss when the camera points at us.”

The history of the ampersand.
slowed down & sped up.

“freeze!“
“party on.”

taking a cue.

baby steps.

(girl, that’s a wig.)

“I shall name her Carmelita”

he said,

as his girlfriend taunted the bird with drawings of kittens and atomic bombs.

Carmelita was unfazed.

so far, so good.

&

things that take us places

that have other names.

re·treat

Pronunciation: \ri-ˈtrēt\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English retret, from Anglo-French retrait, from past participle of retraire to withdraw, from Latin retrahere, from re– + trahere to draw
Date: 14th century

1 a (1): an act or process of withdrawing especially from what is difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable
(2): the process of receding from a position or state attained b (1): the usually forced withdrawal of troops from an enemy or from an advanced position
(2): a signal for retreating
c (1): a signal given by bugle at the beginning of a military flag-lowering ceremony
(2): a military flag-lowering ceremony
2: a place of privacy or safety : refuge
3: a period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study, or instruction under a director

today:

the promise of good things on the other side.
&& what is left behind–
shedding

you will know we have passed through this place.

(this looks like my handwriting)

somehow i find your name on every page.

(i am afraid to get to the ending)

this.

the way a body assembles an idea.
this house of cards and chemicals.

a shape; proportionately similar to a girl.