things people think at the bus stop goin nowhere

bump off a knife in the back of the record shop

stop to smoke by the side of the pier poke

fun at the sign that says no smoking no alcohol

get a beer lie in the grass open your eyes too

wide wonder if you hallucinate that squid

in the sky no it’s a kite close your eyes

tight breathe through the bad trip go for

a dip off the end of the pier get another

beer do another line of blow and a blowjob

in the bathroom on the pier come down get found

in bed with someone you don’t know don’t

stay sober enough to care ask what’s

your name do the same same same then

leave town never see him around step on

every rail tie between here and there

get gone get really fuckin high on the train

say casey jones was the one to blame

then stare out the window pane and watch

your fears click against piano tile ties

watch someone jump out and die cry

on the phone cuz your people don’t want

you to come home and then write this poem.

—September 2021, Stanford, CA