
I WILL NEVER WRITE ENOUGH POEMS FOR MY EX-BOYFRIEND TO LOVE ME.
Joshua Zeitler
I will never catch the moon’s reflection
in the Pine River. Never skinny-dip
in an oil spill, skin slick as a ripe cherry,
nor flush the blood-thick marrow
from my bones. I will never nickname all
the stars and call them home for dinner.
Never clip my toenails in the dark.
Never pound
the high striker, however harshly
the barker pleads. I will never read
the books I’ve bought, though I will stamp
each one with my name, so the next owner must face
how I wanted what I held.
I will never run out
of ink, never think of every highway
exit with the tenderness
it’s earned. Mea culpa.
Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.
I’ll never write another poem
whose last lines cannot shelter us.
Joshua Zeitler is a queer, nonbinary writer based in rural Michigan. They received their MFA from Alma College, and their work has been published or is forthcoming in The Account, Pithead Chapel, HAD, The Q&A Queerzine, and elsewhere.