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_________.