I. a whisper “goodbye”
Did I mean to leave you
the second letter
that mentioned we were like
Scarlett and Bill in
Lost in Translation?
I did,
but it doesn’t matter.
You never thought
it was a very good movie
anyway.
II. samson
After I read to you what an ex wrote,
I asked if that changed
how you thought
of me.
You looked up from your Samson hair
that just keeps on growing
and said,
without the blink of an eye
(but I couldn’t see your eyes),
“No, I’ve known you for longer.”
III. 24-hour clock
If our relationship was the title of a movie it would be Christian Marclay’s The Clock
not just because we saw it at LACMA after standing in line that early morning
but because that’s how I felt when you held me at the Hollywood night club
or when we drove up to Santa Monica just barely before the sun rose
and when I left to finish school we talked forever on our phones
daily when you got off from work and me from homework
catching up like we had meant something more to
each other than holding hands in your car
or staring out at an endless sea
while we laid on the sand
sharing secrets
and kisses
but soon after
you stopped responding
said you couldn’t keep it up after
getting serious with that girl from Mexico
whom you visited the same weekend I went back
not to see you but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t planning to
and for that I’m always reminded you’re nine years my senior
but it never affected how I looked at you the night we lost our friends
and ended up on the beach with other girls and other boys exactly like us
yet somewhere along those phone lines you had probably changed your mind
and thought of me as a college kid in a classroom still learning about relationships
forgetting I was the one who slipped you my number in the short time we were together.
IV. lines & missed times
We’re always /
waiting /
in lines when we’re together.
One foot forward, /
only to find / I’ve been /
two steps behind /
you.
Is it my turn yet?