what summer nights are made for

it must just be your structure
the yoga instructor tells me
about how my left elbow bends more than my right
in downward dog

_______

the collection of metal graters
nailed to the wall
most tarnished and some rusting
plus pink painted cabinets

if 19th street were a person i might say something like
don’t ever change. you’re beautiful.
by which i think i might mean something about
there are ways this house hasn’t changed
and i am grateful
for how this allows me to hold the past up to the present
and see the distance between the two

_______

(in case you didn’t catch that in your catching up, amy,
here’s a shout-out to you
and your imitation of your dad cycling through your sister’s names to get to yours)
(and here’s one for tarp:
i’m not sure you finished naming the three highlights
from the five-week adventure
but you can send them
via post)

_______

on the porch at 25 ne failing street
we cheers the ginger ale bottle to the coconut water can
and when you say this is all an act
referring to your usual filthy banter

and there is something about the sun from here
how it passes through the spokes of the streams of bikers pedaling north on williams
_______

a.m. and i break off squares
of the sea salt almond chocolate
talk about tattoos and the phenomenon of people commenting on them
and i say some thing about the difference between how people read us and therefore approach us
her being more of a ‘tattooed lady’
and me being more of a ‘scruffy kid with some tattoos’

among tactics we develop for shifting the dynamic entirely
are a.m. repeating the phrase avert your eyes!
in an old-lady-imitation kind of way

_______

i learned it from co-counseling
i say
to keep showing up
and reaching out for connection
without expectation or resentment

_______

wear boots
i am instructed
for the first motorcycle ride of my life
jeans too?
i respond

see you in the street, sledge

_______

this is the time of day when it gets kindof weird
i tell a.m. as we step away from the bluffs
sky a pink talcum
because all i want to do is ride my bike with a crew
(what summer nights are made for)

i think some of this has to do with going home
to a house that is a home-away-from home
but not really my home

_______

A photographer captures a new exhibit at Legoland, Windsor, created to mark the birth of His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge. -bbc, day in photos
and this is where i go
are you fucking kidding me???
and think of babies born in places many humans wouldn’t volunteer to step foot in
babies whose names none of us may ever know

_______

from the water world:

Greece’s Evangelia Platanioti and Despoina Solomou perform in the synchronised swimming duet free final during the World Swimming Championships at the Sant Jordi arena in Barcelona, Spain. -day in photos, voice of america