We are
the nudged off
the broken down
the bruised
the ignored
the weathered
the unchosen
the your line's over there
the fourth of three picks
the face of no way
the gang of nope sorry
the never no chancers
the next timers
the anyone elsers
We are the ones who tear permission slips into pieces.
We cheer it like confetti that falls from the sky.
We are the ones who raise our own hands.
We are the ones who make our own plans.
We do not wait to be chosen.
We are.
Coveralls.
Overalls.
Oshkosh good gosh.
Ten ladders taped together.
Rickety right up to the sky.
He payed for the billboard himself.
It was his only chance to say why.
They drove so fast below.
(What did that sign say?)
His paintbrush dunked back into the can.
Paint flowed like blood.
Maybe today was the day..
A lot can happen between now and never.
Birds chirping.
Ears whistling.
You are worth missing.
He thinks to himself.
Thank God for this rope to tether me.
Whether me..
Whether or not.
There the road turns.
What are you going to do when that noose around my neck burns?
Away.
Away.
A way.
Words are fire when the heart is a blazing furnace.
In the past two months, I...
went fishing,
walked to the park,
walked inside the park,
sat outside,
read books,
sat inside,
read more books,
listened to full albums,
folded paper (origami),
baked,
grilled,
rode a train,
saw a live band,
rested,
embraced each day randomly,
rowed,
saw friends,
drank coffee with my grandmother,
planted radishes,
watched hockey,
learned about life,
wrote letters,
read letters,
and never, not once, even with the double negative, not never once, at all, or even a crack or halfway opened up my laptop.
It was beautiful.
To do: Live more.
Open the laptop less.
He never knew how many miles it was. He never counted calories. He never kept track of steps. He never knew what the exact temperature was. He never knew the number of blocks.
He knew it was three and a half.
Three and a half
songs.
Some days it was four.
Other days it was one
over
and over and
(over)
He knew what he kept
walking toward (walking from)
every
single
time
he moved his feet.
...and all this time she thought she covered a lot of ground on the treadmill (killing time) before class.