DREAMS YOU FORGOT [ BUT WE REMEMBER ]

HUNG MY HEAD OUT THE CAR WINDOW LIKE A DRUNK WEREWOLF ON A WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE MOON IS GOING DOWN, AND IT IS TECHNICALLY THE A.M. BUT IF YOU'RE ABLE TO LOOK UP IN BETWEEN THE STREETLIGHTS YOU CAN STILL SEE THE STARS, AND WHERE THERE ARE STARS THERE MUST BE A MOON, AND AS LONG AS THERE IS A MOON WE STILL HAVE TIME. I'M SHAKING UP MY FAYGO BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE IT SO BUBBLY, AND YOU ARE SHAKING YOUR HEAD BECAUSE THE CAR STILL SMELLS LIKE GRAPE FROM LAST TIME. NOBODY SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT OPENING THE WINDOW AND LETTING CLEANER AIR IN TO USHER IT AWAY, AND FOR A WHILE WE LIVE IN A CONCORDCORE WORLD. TODAY I PICKED UP A CREAM SODA, THOUGH, AND CONCORD CREAM SODA DOES NOT STRIKE ME AS THE VIBE.

 I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYONE PUSH A CREAM AND GRAPE PRODUCT, SO IT MUST NOT BE DESIRED. IS THAT HOW IT WORKS? I LIKE GRAPES, AND I LIKE CREAM, BUT I ALSO LIKE WATCHING MY BREATH TURN INTO FROSTY FOG ON MY EXHALE, EVEN IF MY NOSE AND FINGERS ARE HURTING. DON'T THINK ABOUT IT. I LIKE STUMBLING UPON + CLAIMING A WILDLY BEAUTIFUL AND STURDY STICK, AND I LIKE RIDING BIKES, BUT I STILL HAVE THAT MARK ON MY KNEE WHEN COUSIN THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO INTRODUCE HIS LATEST TREE AMPUTATION TO MY TWO-WHEELED CHARIOT. I REMEMBER HIM SAYING THAT HE THOUGHT I WOULD JUST STOP. WELL, I DID, BUT NOT WHEN HE THOUGHT I WOULD. AFTER A SHORT AND CLUMSY ATTEMPT AT FLYING + LEAVING MY BIKE BEHIND. OR MAYBE IT LEFT ME GOIONG AHEAD. I REMEMBER ‘STOPPING’ SOME DISTANCE AWAY ON UNFORGIVING CONCRETE. I REMEMBER HOLDING MY KNEE. I REMEMBER IT BEGINNING TO RAIN. I STILL HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN THE SMELL OF THAT RAIN, OR HOW THE WORLD BLURRED IN FRONT OF ME. “ I AM NOT CRYING,” I KNOW I SAID, “ RAINWATER IS COMING OUT OF MY EYES.”

I THINK I FELL IN LOVE WITH THE RAIN THAT DAY, AND TO THIS DAY I APPROACH IT LIKE AN OLD FRIEND. I LIKE HAVING THE EXCUSE TO WALK IN THE RAIN BECAUSE I FORGOT MY UMBRELLA, ON PURPOSE, EVEN THOUGH EVERYONE KNOWS I CHECK THE WEATHER RELIGIOUSLY. I LIKE TAKING MY TIME, AND LISTENING TO THE WATER, AND I LET IT TAKE IT’S UNNAMED PAYMENT FOR THESE PRIVILEGES IN THE NAME OF ‘CLEANSING’. “CHEAPER THAN WHAT WE CHARGE OTHERS,” IT WHISPERS, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NO WAY OF CHECKING+ EVEN IF I DID I DON’T KNOW IF I WOULD DARE TO. “YOU WILL NOT MISS THIS.” I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS REFERRING TO.

 I WILL ALWAYS TRY TO READ THE STORM CLOUDS EVEN THOUGH MY UNDERSTANDING OF THEM IS ALMOST NON EXISTENT. [THOUGH I AM NOT WITHOUT AT LEAST ONE DELIGHTFULLY STOLEN SECRET, BECAUSE WHERE THERE IS SPEAKING WATER THERE IS SOMETHING TO BE HEARD.] YOU TOOK MY FAYGO AND RELIEVED IT OF PRESSURE SLOWLY WITHOUT IT THROWING UP IT’S ARTIFICIAL CREAM CONTENTS. I HOWLED AT WHAT WAS LEFT OF THE MOON. THERE WOULD BE NO RAIN IN THIS CAR. WHEN I DRANK IT, IT WAS PERFECT THE FIRST TIME. THERE IS NOTHING TO WASH AWAY.