the Day after Christmas
1
The bar down the street, and WalMart,
are both at capacity, and they were
the day before Christmas too
we hang out in Zak’s driveway, with a blow-up
Santa riding a motorcycle, a reindeer
driving a tractor, Snoopy in an aeroplane
with ‘Season’s Greetings’ on the side
I’m only in a purple sweatshirt
and black long johns
and the air feels sharply cold
last night, I drove by the space where
my high school used to be
A new high school, with the same name
is in the same space
2
You are in New York right, in a knit cap and scarf,
watching your brother’s boyfriend play Skyrim,
and you don’t need me to show you the world
I remember Sarah in high school, in her white
tank top and bike shorts, I’d also jokingly tell her
that I would show her the world
and before I came back for Christmas
she sent me a wedding invitation in the mail
I imagine you now, looking
off a fire escape in Manhattan,
even though that’s probably inaccurate,
I’m romanticizing you in my mind
while I write this on my phone
in the North Auburn Taco Bell drive thru
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.