I had a childhood once too John it was great for the most part it was made of a loud sky that colored most things green John and nighttime was a way to see the future because I never saw nothing in all that darkness but for the most part John it all slipped away the same way an adult makes a to do list but forgets where they put it so most of the things never get done while life goes on John and then you are left with a past made of empty mason jars and notebooks with nothing but white space filling up the lines because I never bothered to take no notes I just looked out the big window at the football field that didn't have any lines painted on it because the school shrunk and there was no more team every time I think of the past John it's like an unfinished board game John like we just took a break from playing but never came back it's like how a friend will tell a story about something you did a long time ago but don't remember doing and when I say I don't remember John they look at me all hurt because our memories are as different as the first and last letters of the alphabet and we all got different words to describe what came between the beginning and end John so many words to describe so much of course it can't be the same after that

__

This poem is part of a larger sequence from a manuscript-in-progress inspired by a message sent to me some time ago.