I have a friend
Named Hanna.
One of my oldest friendships,
A cousin.
On Friday she wore stripes
And I said–
“Like a raccoon”
And she twisted her head like a raccoon,
Pranced a dance to the table
Her hands pulled
Chest-ward
Like paws.
We went camping in August, Hanna and I.
Five days of our favorite things.
The first day–hiking for hours.
The second–biking for hours.
(“I feel as if,” I said, “We only
Bike until we hate ourselves.”
“I’m about there,” she said.)
The third day–art. And she
Played her favorite music
Music about love
and loss
About festivities
and sorrow.
Perhaps it is impossible to be
Human without both
The pleasant and the
Unpleasant
An integration of emotion and experience.
And so, we bike until we hate ourselves…
And go dancing afterwards.
Festive dancing
Late in the darkness
On a fine summer’s eve
With hundreds of people.
And each other.