from Sleep Ambulance
the land sharks
on the art of
unwinding
the gutter-shake
of alleys—
there are so many movies
with the right kind of speeches
& goosebumps
are plenty—
& there’s another scene
with a man
commenting
on how a woman looks
sexual harassment
makes for snappy dialogue
god look at him leer
i know what he’ll say
by looking at the fucking look
on his face
ok so what are we doing
about it
what are we doing
with all this water
i call my friends
because there is such
a loneliness in walking
through wicker park
when its crowded
i do not own a polo shirt
ash in the leaves
chickens in the road
you & i
are unloading
what we’ve grown
into this car ride
i will always forget
peanut butter—
or something
vital to dinner
aluminum in the air
rust in the water
the pipes are strong
above our heads
outside some dude
is saying
come on baby
come on baby
i was only kidding
you look good
i don’t know
what to do with my body
& i feel weird
standing here
like is everyone looking at me
outside
yes is it finally green
would this be considered
an avant garde
education—
how do we construct a narrative
i don’t drink
snapple anymore
lets look at the originals
lets look obsession
in the face
lets look for lookings sake
leer some would say
the why of it
the dark parts
here is a picture
of the blood-moon
in case there are clouds
biography
JOSHUA YOUNG is the author of four collections, most recently, THE HOLY GHOST PEOPLE (Plays Inverse Press, 2014). His work has appeared in Gulf Coast, Bat City Review, Fugue, Puerto del Sol, Vinyl, Third Coast, Cream City Review, Court Green, among others. His feature film, Do You See Colors When You Close Your Eyes?, was official selection at Seattle International Film Festival, Athens International Film Festival, and Montreal International Black Film Festival. He is Editor-in-Chief for The Lettered Streets Press and works at the University of Chicago. He lives in the Albany Park neighborhood with two humans.