The Years Stack Against Us

Photographvia Flickr by Eden, Janine and Jim
For Matthew
Insert tree image here________.
You let me respect you, like a cat.
We try to grow old together.
We can’t stop rain.
We can’t harness lies that come
from deep in the lungs of liars.
Insert bird image here_________.
I don’t want to quit.
My hands smell like cigarette butts
and bars of soap.
We daydream like college students.
Complicated, simple, like walking
in the woods.
Insert a memory here________.
We can’t be sweet anymore.
I/you, our happy face, collective, damaged.
Please look around, listen to blood
in veins, our bodies, tepid, resilient.
I want to make it through.
Insert the future here_________.