by Adam Schechter

One year since the heat of drunks screaming and cockroaches plotting beneath my cutting boards we threw the windows open to better see the mattresses across the street I knew then that they were coming for me too but we did our best with a jute rug and paintings of fire chrome and amber glass from across the island one night I saw a couple making love in the building with the outdoor mattresses windows thrown open clear as Orion it made me think of that last night and how I dreaded you I peeled you off like sunburnt skin leaving only your eucalyptus roses only one year but look at what has happened since.