The first bit of sky
you get lost up in
is like this ticker tape
cut inside you somewhere
young and in pain
you wait for things
that are only revealed
after you go through it
oh, you’ve been through it
I can see that
I’ve got eyes for this sort of thing
but I just want you to know
that despite what you’ve learned so far
it does get better
you can mend broken fences
you can unburn those bridges
what you don’t put right
will put you right
here, where you are
just start small
and then remember that sky
Goddammit, remember why.
James Diaz (They/Them) is the author of This Someone I Call Stranger (2016, Indolent Books) and All Things Beautiful Are Bent (2021, Alien Buddha Press) as well as the founding editor of the literary arts and music magazine Anti-Heroin Chic. They live somewhat deep in the woods in upstate New York. @diaz_james