Our People I

rustle plastic bags of outside food in movie theaters/talk out of turn in the swallow-dark light/believe trash should be/as confetti/everywhere in the viaducts’ shadow/souring in gutters’ craw/jaywalk with the urgency of sloth /split verbs meaningfully/do or want to do better/ tattoo so you will never mis- remember our names/name ourselves Precious and Mercedes/must have some Indian in us/search for signifiers in eyes/ bright earlobes/textures of hair/ are color-stuck/are disabused our definitions of love/love and don’t know how to call it/ grieve any number of nouns/mostly people/ pets/preoccupy with memories at the repast/recall that day at the beach that / leads us to days at the beach grilling/meat browning/its purpose/it’s children on the sandbar tossing a ball/the dog biting the surf/finally some mirth/we carry for keeps.