Faster

What if you were the boy
who gave me his gym shorts all those years ago

that time my best friend wanted to go skinny dipping
with a bunch of strange guys from a band

and i said are you crazy?
and we jumped in the black 

Atlantic fully dressed
and later, watching us drip

head to toe across his (your?) pale 
linoleum, offered to throw

our clothes in the dryer while we listened 
to (his?) your unplugged version of Kryptonite

that still plucks goosebumps when 
it comes up in my running playlist

// what if your grin 
is a secret handshake remembering 

the hungry tone of those
apartment walls & the comforting

smell of the dryer 
underneath the pulse

of the drums // what if 
the cling of my ocean-soaked dress

sometimes 
wakes you up at night— 

what if you grew up, too, with a fist 
full of regrets only answerable

in the next mile, the next doubtful
song you fall in love with?

Joanna Lee

Joanna Lee, co-editor of the anthology Lingering in the Margins (2019), is a founder of the Richmond, Virginia, community River City Poets. Her work has been published in JAMA, Rattle, Parhelion, and elsewhere and has been nominated for both Pushcart and Best of the Net prizes. Having earned her MD from the Medical College of Virginia and a Master’s in neuroscience from William & Mary, she currently co-owns coffeeshop Café Zata in Richmond’s Manchester district.

https://joannasuzannelee.com/
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Another Evening Lowdown