had logo

i crave

that fountain

of youth

you can

find in

every park

on every

corner in

the city

even tho

i only

wanna

dip my

toes in

 

taking a

chance

knowing

damn

well J

just had

the illness

that’s had

our whole

planet in

shambles

the past

4 years—

not just the

big cities

 

a common

cold at

this point

 

i had a

cold in

kindergarten

and i

turned out

just fine

 

very different

from childhood

trauma which

i never had

 

at least not

that i can

remember

 

i remember

getting colds

tho and how

necessary it

felt to take

cold showers

all weekend

because we

were melting

in the

apartment

and it’s

even worse

in the

streets

 

the streets

were melting!!!

 

we go

skating

and my

wheels

sink into

the soft

asphalt, we

all laugh

and they ask

what happened

and i say

it was the

dumb asphalt

 

i completely

forgot it was

go skate day

(i think we

all forgot)

but we

don’t care

cause it’s

just what

we do

it’s all

we know

we know

nothing

else

 

we split

tompkins in

half and i

watch a

kid try to

kickflip the

can for at

least an

hour in his

soaking

wet baggy

jeans

 

hit the deli

with N for

water but

accidentally

end up

with this

fucked up

corndog

in my hand

right before

it found

itself in my

stomach

all gurglin

and what

not

 

when we

said it was

the longest

day of the

year idk if

we really

knew we’d

end up

at an art

show with

free beer

and of

course JR

was down

to rack

a backpack

full that

we’d never

end up

drinking

cause JR’d

disappear

and the

beers went

hot anyway

 

i might

ask JR

to translate

this poem

into spanish

so more

homies

can read it

 

caught up

with Big

Dog on

the street

and he

told J

about this

crazy job

opportunity

and J said

to chill

out about

it but i

don’t believe

in jinxing

and besides

if it is real

(jinxing)

then putting

it in this

poem was

the ultimate

jinx but i

think he’s

got it just

like i thought

T had the

ride on crook

earlier at

tompkins

and guess

what, he

got it

 

the rest

of the

night was

as long

as you’d

imagine

but also

as quick

as you’d

imagine

as soon

as J

popped

the first

modelos

we were

in the back

of the

sushi bar

vibing

with T for

Joe’s bday

then eating

green deli

with all the

homies

on the steps

before we

all said,

goodnight

see you

tomorrow

at the

beach

 

and then

it was

tomorrow

at the

beach

and we

built a

graveyard

on the

beach

to bask

and skate

and bask

and skate

until the

sky cracked

open and

it dumped

on us and

all the

homies

skated

back to

Ichi’s van

in the

pouring

rain

while

J and i

walked

our

happy asses

back to

the train

 

seemingly

everyone

napped

after the

beach

cept me

so i

chilled

in seward

with the

lightening

bugs and

got a fig

bar from

the deli

because

it’s my

daughter’s

favorite

snack and

i miss the

hell outta

her and

the fig

bar made

me feel

better

 

it really did

 

J wakes

up and

we hit

FMN

for steak

frites and

talk

about maybe

hitting a

movie but

just not

Jackass

at the

Roxy

cause

we grew up

watching

that shit

just not

at the

Roxy

 

on the

walk back

to the crib

on Catherine

J threw

a bottle

into a

pile of

trash but

it fell out

and he

said, its

better

that way

so someone

can easily

collect it

to trade

in for

money

 

sunday

morning

and i’m

on the

courts

staring

at the

cross

before

we link

at pallets

to bike

to blue

park

 

pull up

to an

empty

canvas

just

waiting

for all

the homies

to get

there and

fire it

up not

realizing

Ichi’s

ready to

ride on

walls

that are

meant

to just

say, hey

i’m a

building

 

JR infects

us with

his energy

and is

talking

about the

poet, Keats,

and i forget

why but

i remember

someone

leaving and

JR starts

yelling some

shit in

spanish that

none of us

understand

but we all

laugh

anyway

cause we

know it’s

funny

cause

it’s JR

 

this is

the part

where

the homies

split and

everyone

goes back

into their

own world

and we

talk about

when

we’ll do

it again

and i’m

thinking

to myself,

we’ll

never be

able to

do this

weekend

again

and that’s

OK cause

it’s impossible

to do the

same exact

weekend

twice and

that’s what’s

beautiful

about life

 

K still

has to

tattoo

T just

like J

and i

still have

to hit

the arcade

and the

reason

we had to

is bc

sometimes

you need

a little

reminder

of why

someone

is your

best friend

and in

the arcade

i realized

there’s no

one else

i’d rather

be in the

arcade

with than

J playing

DDR like

we’re in

the 6th

grade

 

last nite

up the

stairs

we saw

an old ac

in the

trash pile

and thought

about taking

it to use for

the night (not

knowing if it

worked) and

the next

morning

when i

left their

apartment

to fly home

the ac was

still there

and i still

didn’t know

if it worked

and now i’ll

never know

but i do

know how

sticky

it get