Catch 22, or Don’t Drop It

there are some little bugs in his room
because it’s june
so he stays up
so bugs don’t crawl up
while he’s asleep
but if he wakes
he’s got to have a light on
and the longer the bright’s on
the more bugs there are.
he’s got a small cherry red mouth
and dark dark curly curly hair
and he tries trips south
with me
with removal of the first person
and unnecessarily intricate language
and we talk sometimes
or touch
and,
because he’s a nice kid
and,
because he doesn’t know better
the classic metaphor of a spider
web
or of vines
might be employed.
she caught stars like popcorn in her mouth
and she burned her tongue
going south
all for an earth boy
whose words weren’t hers.