He hides lifetimes in his pockets and I rifle through the top hits.
The flicker of old movie reels
I spot two lovers dancing and overacting.
Toothy grins and drawn out sighs.
They’ve known each other a long time. I feel their pulses beneath my feet.
Kick lines, balconies, and red lipstick.
Suddenly, I know the steps.
The sky flips.
You buy me a cherry slushie at the drive-in.
I’ve never seen you in a leather jacket until now.
It suits you.
The blacks of witching hour sit around your shoulders I save the change in my pocket for when I’ll meet you next.
The sky flips.
I crawl through the mirror made of moon
As I taste your name, I can see why the stars scheme to mimic you.
The marks of his freckles become a roadmap of the galaxy’s hidden diners.
His fingertips throb with the souls of starlit travelers.
I claw through light years just to taste a drop of him.
My lover howled like earth was his own and bled into space.
White static made of pearls fills my vision,
then a warm low voice soaks over my shoulders.
The sky flips.
I’m driving on the interstate and there’s a Coca-Cola truck in front of me.
Its backdoors slam open, soaking me in a chorus of black rivers.
I lick my lips and search for you in the loitering sap.
A life raft slips over my neck and makes its way to my hips.
The sky flips.
Paintings made by summer’s strokes blend into riverbeds.
I chase after a flutter of freckles.
I realized I am the wind pounding out of the drumming earth.
The sky flips.
Melted sun swells on the tip of my tongue,
but I swallow too soon.
As I grasp at the palaces outside of midnight’s hollow,
I climbed into holes the sun has poked its flames through.
The sky flips.
In a church pew the preacher’s voice echoes.
What is God’s favorite color? Green, I say in the same beat, as if an answer key is written on my palm.
I’m guided by dawn’s tap dancing.
The trumpets sound as I reach the study tree.
Brimming with greenery. I recognize you.
The sky holds steady.
Kelli Lage lives in the Midwest countryside. Lage is currently earning her degree in Secondary English Education and works as a substitute teacher. Awards: Special Award for First-time Entrant, Lyrical Iowa.