Luxury

Before the Florida roads were
bleached whale bones for barons
to pick their teeth
we had the luxury to flick
the fucking matches.
We stole fruit from laden
branches and stars
still tipped scales. Remember
the luxury of disconnected everyone.
Remember the luxury to walk where birds
hid in their tiny rooms singing. The luxury
to joke with clowns driving
tinkling trucks. The luxury to stand
on a beach without fish hooks
in our knees. Remember sticking
out your thumb because you could.
Remember when no one prospered.
Remember never knowing
who we might become.

Michael Rogner

Michael Rogner is a restoration ecologist in Northern California. His poetry has appeared recently in Willow Springs, The Los Angeles Review, The Minnesota Review, Barrow Street and elsewhere.

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A Basalt Princess

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Where Nobody Is