Shive Bit
I cashed out forgotten investments,
Cut back to essential needs for months,
And pawned a friendship down the corner
With no intentions of coming back.
I repressed a late-night snapshot
Of expired registration stickers
And rear left tire pressure giving out,
Remnants of boba tea in the back seat
Soon to ferment like this stillborn summer.
I paid my Uber fare with clusters of sand
In the shape of Aztec medallions,
Like the ones seen in the first
Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
I got charged a fee at the airport
For excess baggage
And all the conflicts with my father
I could never afford to resolve.
I slept with my neck on a pedestal
With one eye open to 3 hours of plot holes
And hope for an ending that never comes.
I paid an anonymous family
For the right to sleep in their pantry
And for the expression on their faces:
Gas-leak induced grimaces
And yawning hunger
For spoonfuls of sugar milk
Held in the air with the pulse of a crane.
I found myself on a desolate beach.
The tides rolled on mute,
But the sound system played at full blast.
From a towering billboard,
The King of Harlem played the hits again,
If only as a hologram,
If only as a sound clip on loop.
If only you could take a picture
Of the setting sun before acknowledging
No memory is a proof of purchase.
