Issue #20 (2011) PDF - myweb - Long Island University

and they don't like being cornered.
Pile into the family van
so cramped you have to put your feet on your bag.
Press your head against the window the whole
long drive.
Think about everything.
Go to the creek.
Want to die there
running over stones.
Catch fish for dinner
but paint them first
the colors you like
and press them to your t-shirt
before you skin them
all by yourself
and cook them
skewered on sticks like marshmallows.
Flip every rock along the shore
looking for salamanders.
Be careful not to crush them with your giant hands.
They are fragile
and sad to look at as they die.
Go to the ocean.
Watch the sand breathe.
Make castles
old before they‘re finished.
Lose yourself in the current
you will be saved.
Dream of sand crabs
the size of your hand.
Sting-rays caught on fishing lines.
Being the last human left.
It is illegal to pick the long grasses on the dunes.
The lifeguard will yell at you.
Do it anyway.
Pretend they are magic wands
or oversized pens
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