by Trevor Plate
Concrete and metal
and sky breathing heavy
The mountains beyond
themselves in the distance
Sun giving up to
the demon electric
Scent of a human
this flight of a lifetime
Telling the stories
of heroes and villains
Precious and potent
the palm of an instant
Night starts its breaking
These hearts are all breaking
out here
Smelling the fish in
the lingering ozone
Exhaust and needles
olfactory highways
Remember the shape
of slow dripping honey
Gaze of the thoughtless
recalling the future
Mapped in a river
of rubber and leather
Built around tree lines
the trick of an eyelid
Airplanes move sideways
These eyelids move sideways
out here
Cardboard and markers
the wolves by the windows
safety in numbers
slipping into the rain
It’s stuck to the back
alive in a tattoo
Gripping the arm of
a diamond nostalgia
Passing eternal
is martyred to motion
Stapled to streetlights
a subtle suggestion
Anything’s perfect
A memory’s perfect
out here.
Trevor Plate
Trevor Plate spent his childhood on the island of Guam. Halfway around the world now, he resides Minneapolis, MN where he continues to write poetry. His poems have previously been published by Five:2: One and in Boston Accent Lit.
Artist: Slime Sunday