adult backbone black and white dark
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
The clock starts now
Blue is a color but also a taste
Embrace the wall so it knows what a good job it’s doing
Extra points for swallowing your past in a gasp
There is no time like the present
Time must not be tracked
Time must be followed
Time is just a voyeur and is always up for some fun
Push out the world and its feral heat
Points are deducted if you remember his name
That knocking sound is just the moonlight in a jealous rage
You should use all your limbs to carve out a penalty box
The clock restarts if you forget your spine-splitting roles
Teams change every time the pain does
His body can only be described in word play
Playing with your tongue is a highly encouraged minor offense
Give him whatever face that helps you forget where you are
Red is a color but also a sound
Tomorrow isn’t in the rulebook so don’t count on it, kid
You’re not allowed to hold his shadow
​​You’re not allowed to cherish the warmth
​​​You’re not allowed to seek forgiveness
​​​​You’re not allowed to believe he’s someone you need
​​​​​A red flag is screaming up through your eager throat
​​​​You’re not allow to say I’ve been here before
​​​You’re not allowed to say I need you to want me
​​You’re not allowed to say I deserve what’s coming
​You’re not allowed to say I don’t believe in salvation
You’re not allowed to say I’m lonely
 You’re not allowed to say I’m dying

But, aren’t we all?




Biography
Daniel Brennan (he/him) is a queer writer and coffee devotee from New York, who spent much of his childhood in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Pennsylvania, along with his many siblings and an ongoing menagerie of pets. His work has appeared in Passengers Journal, The Banyan Review, Birdcoat Quarterly, Sky Island Journal, and Hive Avenue, among others. Twitter/Instagram: @dannyjbrennan.

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