Johnny Wade

Basement Occupied of dirty laundry Comic books And Chuck Palahniuk This grungy fume Smells of coffee beans Stirred with cigarette butts And dirty feet Neutral Milk Hotel is singing Through that dirty old stereo of yours On top is a stack of Scratched up mixes I created Elliott Smith Built to Spill And Leslie Feist Scribbled with my sharpies 24 pack purchased at Costco This scene Is all too familiar And this room reeks Of the late Saturday nights Spent watching Spiderman one and two Not three Those summer days Full of slices at Dream And rooftop adventures The miles soaked In that dark maroon truck Where your baby brother’s safety chair Always got tangled up with the seat belt You got frustrated And I just laughed Those kitchen afternoons Full of Honey Bunches of Oats And mouth-watering sandwiches Light on the mayo And heavy on the mustard The lazy Sundays Keeping our hands warm With a cup of English Breakfast Find us downtown Wondering around Second Street Notes left on the counter Don’t forget to water the plants And absolutely no guests With an examination mark at the end Love, Mom You never did forget to water the plants Hand in hand With a zip lock bag full of trail mix Extra M&M’s With the world at our feet That smile of yours Takes me back Seventh grade Three seats ahead of me A small frame With a big head Abnormally long arms A devious smile From ear to ear No braces provided Massive hands And uneven bangs A deep voice For a little man Stuck inside A supernatural world Full of villains And superhero capes Plaid jacket Everyday Snatched from Goodwill Cheated the soda machine And smacked lockers Just to hear the magnetic mirrors Crash The face is so familiar And the past is vivid But I know nothing about you How are you? How is she? Do you remember that One time we Raced in the dark Till our insides almost exploded That night I almost fell Off your rooftop Pointing out the Big Dipper These times Float through my mind Vividly By the way Your hideous attempt To draw a triceratops Is still hanging on my wall Thanks for that