Biology

Biology


They didn’t teach us anything important
in high school. I remember you,
negotiating with your back to the class
in those giant 80s glasses,
as the teacher took a break from his boy’s own stories
of pissing tigers
and Vietnamese cobras swaying in the tall grass
to expose himself: Being beautiful isn’t enough
to get you through life,
sweetheart.

Now at his age, I sit in front of my laptop
at an upscale bar and lay you open
over a California roll, chicken tortilla soup, and coffee
with cream: It seemed like life would be easy
for you. Has it been?

You reply that you were in your twenties
before you started to see who you were
from God’s perspective.

Is that how I had always seen you?

Even after twenty years, I could still unpack
your smile
like a baby pig’s heart
out of all that nasty mess.