-Souvenirs-

damn melancholia.

I've tried to avoid it, knowing

its fatal trap, but then in the clearing

during the closing

movement of the dance

it appears with its magnetic

shenanigans,–– the early
romance of the balconies,

and sure,— that moment

beyond the spiraled stairway
leading to the school's observatory.
(old J. J. Harrington scolded
we should be looking at the moon.
but we were.)
I've tried to avoid it, but

wouldn't you know, a light rain taps

to soften the Mercury's roof,
the benchseat is warmed beneath

the headliner's faded domelight where

the great, universal mystique of the prom dress

is slowly defined.

I've tried to avoid it, but

so many visible stars above the spindrift

illuminate its salt and, well,— 

maybe she'll recall how the poem goes.

for Elaine San Marcos.