Poems

Some boys

Some boys pass you

on skateboards fractionally faster

than your smoking hot roller skates

so that you don’t so much

eat their dust as slowly choke on it.

Some boys pass you by—

their heads in the clouds,

just not your cloud. You wish

for overcast skies and a little inciting

wind. Some boys pass their hands

over you without stopping

to ask, Would you like me

to or would you like to pass?

Some boys are passable -

worth a date at a James Bond flick,

Coke and Snifters,

until you hear they think

you have a punky nose.

Some pash and pass us on

to their mates. Some pass

as boys who like girls,

kisses with butterfly wings.

They make the best friends

after they make sure it’s safe

to come out. Some pass

away by their own hand,

the ones who used to grasp and release

frisbees to the spinning skies,

the brightest minds

in heavy passage. Some hand

you a free pass—be a passenger in my epic saga!

a drop and dangle earring,

a diamante choker at the throat.

Some pass you off for another, leaving your heart

pulsing in and out of consciousness, passed out

for the most part in cupid’s vaulted ditch

also known as your dusky pink bedroom,

door shut, shadow side of the house.

Some pass on secrets not meant for you

to carry, on your own or in the company of fellow drama

kings and queens, titillated escalators, misfortunate

matchmakers, premature wedding planners.

You love and you love but

this time you roll

over and down

boy-less streets

serving dust twisters

at high speed.

(published in The Spinoff, 21 June 2024)