french fry po’ boys the morning after i sat
on the cusp of falling off a third story balcony
looking down on a man peeing on the neighbor’s side wall
on facetime my dad tells me that kelly
–– his back neighbor –– is heading out again
and he’s so glad i’m an extrovert now remembering the nights
i couldn’t stomach another zero-sum game of fallen leaves
in march and flooding riverbeds in may
two days after hooking up with my ex
he tells me that he’d fuck anything that walked
and we both looked down at my crutches and laughed
a sweet bitter laugh for our past
selves and closure that tastes like lime jello shots
i asked if he knew what a dancing tree looked like
and he said no but i’ve seen hundreds of fallen trees
and i think it says something that neither of us
looked up at the oak above us shedding leaves like tears
these days i watch my sunsets over a cemetery
the world paints us a masterpiece in the midst of it all
death falling over itself to curate something more beautiful
***
Favorite drink: Moscow Mule.
Makenna Dykstra (she/her) is currently an M.A. student of English Literature at Tulane University in New Orleans where she is probably stressed and sleep-deprived, but also very grateful because the ice cream and sunsets here are spectacular.
***
image: MM Kaufman
Rejection Letters 