Originally published in Southeast Review. 2024.
Dad under the Chevy Nova with a cigarette
In the driveway Gentle so the ashes don’t fall
By the front yard by the crabapple tree
Green sour and small Grandpa takes the Harley
Around the block with Gage on the back
And down to Stewart’s for some lotto
The grownups are like get outside and off Zelda
But I want to get back to the quest
We’ve got how many pixelated hearts to go
Before we get old How many days in my life
Before the smoke takes hold And I go down
The same way breathless in the old house
Under the cork ceiling my radiation mask
Nailed to the bar above the blinds If I were to
Count it would be up down right up up
I tell Gage the fairy wants the ocarina to play
A song we don’t know yet She holds the secret
Until we’re ready Grief needs a manual
In the nightmare time is a great tree
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