“Youth”
Youth dreams beyond the youth
to a violent episode, wrapped in canaries,
a carnation taught to flower every year.
It wasn’t only for pretend
this job seeped through you,
exploding your core with delirious
“I remember you”s
from backyard barbecues
before we gave up on our addictions
braved a sigh of crooked stars
erased the miserable
mistletoe shadows from out our face.
Come run with the beasts and us,
our legs are shuddering
torn through the nylon
every mask of a robber’s self-hatred
turns up the gas for awhile
we’re mitten feet
and the icicles stopped
to talk to us
so mulberry and bristle
there’s a steel-brush cave
and a mill yonder.
Let’s ride horses
pass into the saddles
for frogs with leather hearts
know what business is happiness
grown kinder but always wrong
a delicate feather traps strong hearts
and know the carriage slows down
only for the foolish
only how we wished we’d been.
nicholauspatnaude 