New Life

I used to wear this city like a grin
in the morning, biking to work and cup
after cup of coffee. Working hard is
a low-budget lifestyle, little time off for
comparisons, analyses, saving
for a home. The evening settles into
a dusk of broken-in cross-trainers you
don’t want to take off. It’s so comfortable
reading a book till you dream and wake, start
and relax. Striding the street in those cool
General Electric shadows, flying
a breezy kite into the ground with friends
I forget I haven’t seen for over a year.
Have I replaced myself, or only repaired?

 

Nick Gardner has his bachelor’s degree in English from The Ohio State University. His chapbook Decomposed (2017) is published through Cabin Floor Esoterica. His writing has appeared in Asterism Literary Magazine, What Are Birds Journal, and is forthcoming in Main Street Rag. His chapbook So Marvelously Far is forthcoming from Crisis Chronicles Press. He lives in Mansfield, Ohio.

Chad Parenteau is Associate Editor of Oddball Magazine. His new book will be out someday.