In plastic chairs over fake grass
convenience store sangria
poured over ice
cheers to summer and your new
job I’ll miss you in the office
miss walking home with you to
our respective homes
laughing next you’re shouting
at the man above in his
apartment who yelled down
that he didn’t like us
he was drunk
your laugh you saw
the ridiculousness in everything
and when the police came
you said they said we had to leave so
I went back to unsolved mysteries and you
went back to laundry I won’t lie
I’m a daydreamer maybe one day
we’d run off down the river let it take us
to wherever to mountain peaks
with only thin rope for our
hands between us and falling to
sit under Korean pine and share
mandarin oranges to take-out pizza for
Christmas Eve dinner to a kiss
goodnight instead of
goodbye I think you know I look at you
like I’d shed my orange dress—
let me take you to the river

Katie Moino received her Bachelor’s in English with a Creative Writing concentration at the University of Vermont. She was mentored by Taylor Byas through PocketMFA. Moino’s poems have appeared in Humana Obscura, Poet’s Choice, and Wingless Dreamer. She serves as a poetry reader for Atticus Review. Her work explores nature and how it relates to self-discovery.