![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/84cb9497-a40d-45e1-8952-8ef1227d81f8_rw_1920.png?h=1b040c11995a49a9674413cc446c433e)
when we drive around in our balloon car, everyone just wants to know whether it can float
I reassure them:
yes, it will ferry you across the bow river — with little turbulence, from Bowness to Quarry Park — as long as
1. your socks match
2. you are very tender with the clutch
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/8a6e2716-d0b4-40c2-adcf-b2f0de27ce48_rw_1920.png?h=d0658967e342c53e5ca1538404084760)
we got rabbit-paw bibimbap
we got strawberry pie
we got tallow and waltzes
come in come in
its too cold its too cold
to be by yourself
to be
by your
self
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/cd58ec1a-2a59-4913-b399-13292bcafd57_rw_1920.png?h=013b8d0f4f50a8b3033bd45ef71aa082)
unfurl your bouquet of grass-fed fingers
put them inside my palms for safekeeping
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/eb3cde6d-81cf-4705-88ec-b64ed8b357b4_rw_1920.png?h=1efe2428dd6e68527986815cf3536ed7)
let me take a spin around in your veins until all the snow is gone
your colours are so bendy and warm
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/5fe27c77-ada8-46d1-943f-2b4de9e873a3_rw_1920.png?h=652d613d0077b25c2be54719e835cec2)
we love to eat jambalaya at open lane swim
our bodies are attuned to the vespers of the filtration system — Mounting verse on verse
our sugary mollusk hearts are so alert and so full
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/ee1e6728-7e22-434b-9a58-ab186ec39415_rw_1920.png?h=a9f698d6c3cba62a7b2daba4e29654e6)
in the early mornings we take candy to the campaigners:
to each, a confection befitting their natural hair colour
before placing them into the receiving hands
we sound out each title — Taw-fee, Lick-rish, Chalk-lette, Jube Jube
and in turn we are entreated to a kiss on both cheeks
no day has ever been so sweet
in spite of everything being so at odds
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/7f29ae58-54a0-4c0c-a142-7e6b932ceee8_rw_1920.png?h=20113395446c977c8fec6750b50b6231)
mother of vinegar courts winer rye
sets aside a labeled cabinet for each caress of cold wind
for fear of misplacing, or forgetting
the feeling of moving through the frozen grasses
together
with somebody so long-loved
who is yet a complete stranger
to himself — and everyone at Pizza Hut, and at the ocean
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/8d147dc9-f8b8-4a6e-83af-f905636fe3ce_rw_1920.png?h=3a0aba0de4f120eb99ee5ab10f3a33b1)
in my springtime, in my timbre
with my palms, callus-thatched
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/7bfb8d58-cc28-487e-8ee7-3c1a7b5cefcd_rw_1200.png?h=47b81a14e56cd9a7ce1ca4ae9f449aff)
tell me if you come across my gloves next time you are at shawarma king
I think they are probably under a table, or behind the garbage
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/58a890bf-8314-437c-b2b7-4036ed0b7c51_rw_1920.png?h=1d167eeaf34a9d1a59b22d686242fb81)
I can't hear you over all the purring motors at the park
and in the leaves
I get tripped up, tangled in your forests of fake ferns
all of my vertices are crying out for coffee and cupcakes
in the extended season
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/90fa17cf-d19d-4dc6-9a03-f43e2458d07e_rw_1200.png?h=e925cdb58383afcf89275186eb56a54f)
roses in the sock drawer
tulips in the fridge
my hands are all rotten
and you still hold them
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/d791cfc4-4215-46b6-b878-e722766b53ec_rw_1920.png?h=9255acb674e113f56815d723d2d1707c)
open-mouth kidder district qualifiers tonight at Timmy's, Dalhousie
free Tim-bit 10pack for all who wait the line
bring yer best pants too
and yer best mask for kissing thru
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/5beef6e6-9a87-4fe8-a121-98e8634d8e1d_rw_1920.png?h=a15e4a9757611e04a8a1890d73e4f333)
I know you know I shave your legs with my razor
I told you to cover the rice
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ae79bdc90cfee9f67ce467e63f75bc17/9318e06a-d336-44e1-960f-1651e9320688_rw_1920.png?h=303d783a9b2c4a0fb877e073f6130724)
you don't need to be collegial when we are just walking
we can have a ritual love
I would stay up all night just to hear the way you pronounce your p's when you dream-talk