Things I Wouldn’t Say Sober
1. When I was younger,
maybe thirteen, my Dad told me drugs
were for people who can’t handle themselves sane.
2. The moon snuck under one of the gaps in your spine.
I think I’ve lost him for good. I haven’t seen him
since the night you left
and the tide is starting to notice.
3. Getting high is like walking out of a fun-house mirror for the first time.
I can finally see the world straight. It doesn’t look any nicer.
4. We are warm bumblebees resting our heavy wings and napping in the sun.
It’s happy here. You once told me happiness isn’t a place,
but I’m beginning to think it isn’t a person either.
5. Whoever falls in love with you has the right idea about living.
6. Forget about me. Spell my name wrong. Sleep without saying goodnight.
7. Blue whales keep beaching themselves on the shoreline
and I can understand why.
It is so hard to stay afloat in a world
that just wants to drown you.
8. Last night was good.
The kind of good you can still taste tomorrow.
I don’t remember why.
I hate falling asleep drunk,
but when I start to drift knowing you’re next to me;
the quiet way your lips part and your soft rise and fall,
my world seems a little more balanced.
9. We talk a lot about SnoopDogg now, all the time.
I can’t tell if we’re joking or not, but we just keep going. We pay homage
to the green that grows inside us, the wild idea that somehow
there’s a way we could all get along;
that war was never what we were meant for.
10. The worst part about getting drunk, getting high,
losing yourself in someone else’s skin, or whatever you do
to feel for a while, is that you’re happy before the hurt hits.
It’s like staring at a storm that hasn’t broken yet.
11. I’m starting to think I’m afraid of who I am without this.
By Schuyler Peck
Biography:
After the better days of tie-dye and moon shoes, Schuyler Peck came into writing; scribbling crooked words on crooked paper. While an ashamed native of the New Jersey coast, Schuyler now studies English in Idaho, hoping her publishing pipe-dream is enough to cover the cab fare. Her work has been featured in JuxtaProse Magazine, Literary Sexts Vol 2, Words Dance Magazine, and Persephone’s Daughters Magazine. She loves you. daisylongmile.com /SchuylerPeck.tumblr.com