Reid@YWP

My long forgotten body

                                          Pulses

With the glow of what could have been

I don’t know if I’m pretty enough for this world, 

I’ve got scars from every adventure I’ve ever had. 

I’ve got acne and spots no matter what I do and what I eat. 

I don’t love school.

I don’t hate it all the time

but I hate it enough to say

I don’t like it.

I like one class

and goofing off during study hall

The beginners of the beat,

Just learning the ropes,

Figuring out their instruments -

They come in, 

Wide-eyed,

And regard the older kids

With awe.

I love to be looked at this way

We have something to learn from

(the toddler who smiled

while he peeled his banana

and ate it in five bites

and gave us all high fives)

(the lady with orange glasses gray hair 

At dusk, the city climbs into trees. Streetlights fold into branches; apartments blink like nesting owls. Commuters dangle from vines in tailored suits, sipping moonlight through trembling leaves. You knock on my bark-body, and I let you in.