Berryessa

I watched you shimmy in the half-light all night
I don’t want to see the news anymore
is there any way I can go blind
just for tonight
sitting in your driveway
listening to song after song
you’re telling me your life story
I’m enraptured
that was the day before all the power
went out in the city
& everybody’s cell phones died
I thought about the songs and the life story and the shimmy
You said I was different
because I actually listened
You said everybody else takes that for granted
I nodded and I nodded yes you’re right
you told me you were taking off to Colorado Springs
but it’s only for a week
and if I was still around
you’d bring me back a breath of snowy air

Seal Rock Drive

And if you’re slipping away
then why you’d invite me over to your place tonight?
is that what you call The Blessing of the Animals?
half a bottle of red on an empty stomach, that’s you
you don’t care, but you’re crying
making a point to make sure I heard about it
I’d love to say I’ve figured that part out
well, not every truth comes with proof
I used to be so good keeping the fools at bay
but that was a long time ago
I never knew we’d wind up in our own personal Cold War
we’re due for a falling star, just keep looking up
and if we’re so over
then why’d you wake up in my cold water flat this morning?
with your brassiere nowhere to be found
well, there’s nothing left for the meek to inherit
I hear your voice even when you’re not speaking
nobody wins in this little Civil War of ours
four Imperial pints in and I begin to contemplate
faith doesn’t always come with a friendly face
and you laughed at me because I didn’t know
this song was a cover, well, then, in that case
I dedicate both of them to you, my love

The Painted Ladies

You slipped out at the last second before the dawn
and all these decades later
I wonder, well, I wonder
did you finally out-run them all?
– or did they catch you in your tracks?
I’ve heard conflicting reports
so tonight, I roll one up for you
and as I exhale in the kitchen
I catch my own reflection in the window
and how I keep my hair short now
and grow my sideburns out every once in a while
I know you always liked that
and in my heart, I’ve always believed you got away

You wrote me poetry on parchment paper
& put on extra postage
insisting the Postmaster General
place all the stamps upside down
ah, all the conflicting reports
so tonight, I pour one out for you
and now every morning that I don’t get a letter from you
in my heart, I let myself believe
you’re still running further and further away
I let myself believe, yeah
that you got away
and that they never even got close

art by Shane Allison

Kite Hill

Summer clothes under my winter coat
your pheromones go through my bones
it’s science, not poetry
say less & come closer
write your name in the whites of my eyes

Angels preening on the edge of your windowsill
loving what they see in your reflection
it’s poetry, not science
come closer in silence your pheromones go straight to my soul

Cayuga Park

It took me years to hear the sound of the train and not think of you
you didn’t give me the chance to explain
it was a friend of a friend
I was dreaming in cobble stones and rotary phones
you bring me the tiniest flower
you were always so good to me
that’s why I adore you
gold flakes in your lipstick
black kohl around your eyes
you nearly cracked the bones in my chest
thank God my rib cage held
but we’re not talking about that tonight, right
& I should write myself a letter
to remind me of when times were better
how far back do you really wanna go?
only a few centuries ago
and by the end of the night
you were in an altogether different state
I had it all planned out
all I had to do was shut my big stupid mouth
everyone freezes around us
when you look in my eyes and say
I should have stayed longer
I should have prayed harder
you know I like waiting for you
and every time, I say to myself
I’m never getting this down again
and then, there I go again
touching your face on my phone
like a letter lost in the mail
that’s my parable
every once in a while a night like this happens
and everything goes down
I got burned and you jumped into the fire
like when you used to call me by my middle name

Christian Garduno’s work can be read in over 100 literary magazines. He’s the recipient of the 2019 national Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry and a Finalist in the 2020-2021 Tennessee Williams Writing Contest. He lives along the South Texas coast with his wonderful wife Nahemie and young son Dylan.