lucas restivo

 

 

This is meant as a celebration of my limitations

like the scientific method and the guitar,

a new handle on the same old drawer.

What else could I become than the site of experimentation?

We were evacuating as two California wildfires converged into one

when a detour sign looked like an empty crucifix 

from behind the light post, 

and it felt so right to consider the dynamic 

between gatekeepers and posers and The Scene

and I fell asleep with my youth running from my mouth

and my eyelids became the nightly screen 

to the stars buried in my stomach. 

We assumed what we couldn’t see.

Cars parked like they’re going to kiss

and when we tried to dump the past like a photo

I saw a bathrobe take the trash out

while chewing a cigar and felt it completely.

We looked up and all the birds were remote controlled

and all the sandwich shops charged $16 

and my gut hasn’t been right since my first wing. 

We were left with the tragic realization

that this must be heaven 

and it smells like a forest fire

and everyone we knew grew a year deeper

into outdoor personalities 

and the relationship between joy and concentration

was categorized as gains 

and I still couldn’t distinguish the difference

between desire and base desire

while I thanked the tree for shade

and the saw for sunlight.

I mean this with every ounce that I have

I want to be boiled alive in love

and I hope dear god do I hope 

you lose your mind too