I remember a blank stare
Blank stars
Blink again and you’ll miss it baby
Kiss it goodbye like a bad omen
Better omen
Better omen baby
Oh man
Oh men
Oh me
Oh my
Oh shit
I remember not knowing how to see a solar eclipse in the palm of my hand
Palm of the sky
We never went to see South Pacific but we did see
The Christmas Carol
Every time
I hated it maybe
Hide from it maybe
Wasn’t afraid of death
Just productions of it
Simulated sorrow
Stimulated sorries
You can't really apologize to someone watching football behind their eyes
I remember the goal
Not of the game
Not of the players
Not even of you
I remember my happiness in that moment
Thats a lie there wasn’t any til the car ride afterward
And the kids pretending to be the police knew it
Bang
I was the immortal in that moment
I can’t think about the date I have to look at the polaroid to recontextualize it
I can’t think about the date after it
It was recontextualized too quick
I remember shaking both times
To both of you
Woman and father
I don’t know who’s scarier
When you say yes
Or nothing
SPECIAL EDITION: This poem has a spoken word version to go along with it! Thank you to our author for recording it.
Emma Douglas is a Midwest poet and teacher who mainly works in spoken word. When they're not writing or learning they're reading or hanging out with their cat. You can find them at their email: emmakd2000@gmail.com