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a friend described the wind as ‘brutal’
and i tried to envision the wind
as an entity capable of brutality
it ended up looking not unlike
an ex-boyfriend
hurling hurtful epithets about
my cooking and communication skills
passive-aggressively disparaging my
appearance and sexual performance
and laying general waste
to my self-esteem
for that reason
i stopped what i was doing
held my arms up above my head
and let the wind surround me
like a spiteful swirl
of drunken 1 a.m. texts
in the hopes that
once it was done hating me
we might both move on
with our lives

LOOK IT UP ON WIKIPEDIA OR SOMETHING

like the snuggliest of armadillos
you captured my heart

in the red rocks and taste of desert air
we cuddled together

settled in the cactus-cold
drunk on the arizona sun

five months later
i died of leprosy

IT’S FUN IF YOU PRONOUNCE IT PHONETICALLY

i feel like i am drowning
in a very large, very shallow
pool. you can’t forget how
to swim—but one day, the stove you
left on will burn your whole house
to elsewhere. if you are very far
from home, and you miss
the ocean, don’t rent
beverly hills chihuahua 2. this advice
can be applied to most things in life. the next time
you are with someone you love, spell
their name in hugs. luckily for all
of us, affection is an unquantifiable
resource—that, and a december moon on
the waterfront, hand frozen around a slurpee
cup. slurpees are technically limited in
supply, but i don’t think we’re going to run
out any time soon. i think people are most beautiful
when they are being themselves.

philip gordon is a creative writing student from Vancouver Island, recipient of the 2014 Kevin Roberts Poetry Award, and an editor of the literary magazines Ash Tree Journal and Text (launching in September, 2014). His work has been published in Wax Poetry and Art Magazine, Potluckmag, Chrysanthemum, Portal, Passion Poetry, The YOLO Pages, and a few other places. philip is a romantic dork, lover of shades, and proponent of the Oxford Comma. He can be stalked at twitter.com/greymusic_ and grey-music.tumblr.com.

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