Last summer:

I remember sitting up, two AM, in the artificial light of my room

the radio’s tinny sound failed

to break the stillness

and the only other thing awake at that hour, in the dark house, was the cat

creeping about somewhere, chasing shadows

I remember fourth of July

sitting on a blanket in the cool grass

sad and angry, I can’t recall why

even as sky lit up with fireworks

I tried not to find them pretty, I failed

And I remember

sitting in the car next to my sister

on a hazy late morning

on an unimportant half- hour drive

I remember the sprawling cemetery we passed

and the dusty bits of plain city street

and the music playing on the car radio;

I still hear strains of it sometimes

in my mind...