Santa Cruz
in a beach house, with a big ‘U’ shape
made out of white couches, between the ocean
balcony and a minibar, and photos of families
I don’t know, everywhere
I’d like many people to walk on the beach
with me, and look at the burning with neon wharf
and look at the Pacific and feel smaller than ever
I especially wish it was you
I think about hugging you on a sidewalk
and how grazing your side
with my hand when I pull away
is the most erotic way I can touch someone
I’m remembering a facebook conversation
I had with Morgan when we were in Korea
I said
the future is scary but
that’s why it’s beautiful :)
and she said
I guess that’s true.
The big world out there
is the scariest part
you don’t need to think about space
to feel infinite in your smallness,
you need to think about the Pacific,
because specificity is more interesting
and the Incas, the Hawaiian Empire,
Indonesia, China, Japan never touched space
I go to the beach in the middle of the night
and the cracking waves sounds like
distant thunder, and in the distance,
Monterrey looks like a string
of Christmas lights, signifying everything
beyond the curvature of the Earth
Christian M Patterson is 23 years old. He's from Auburn WA and lives in Portland OR. When he isn't writing poetry, he is watching wrestling. Find him on Twitter and Tumblr.