Sheās at the bar and sheās laughing
Itās a golden laugh, everyone
Sees it hang in the air
Like a breath
Like a birdsong
And the air is so thick
You could cut the sound out of it
And frame it
Fog behind glass
The bar windows
Golden too
The whole room is diffused in it
Damp and hazy
Blurred
Glittering, golden
Red walls and Christmas lights
Her dress is tight and her cheeks are flushed
In that intentionally careless college girl way
When she blinks her eyes
Stay closed too long
They notice this, too
She knows they do
And the man who once
Had golden hair too
Buys her another drink and
Tells her about his trips, his money,
His own college days
Her skin glitters and the air
Sticks to it
And drips through her hair
His underarms are darker than the rest
Of his shirt, his neckline too
She notices
The air drops down his face, flushed,
Searching for something
He licks his lips
Ringed in silver stubble
His eyes flash in the light
A coyote from back home
Has the same glowing eyes
Sheās so stupid, he thinks
Sheās so silly, so young
Heās so stupid, she thinks
The ground of his youth
Has claw marks in it
And he doesnāt know time ripped him away
Long ago
And she laughs again
In a way that makes her friends turn around
And then look at each other
But heās a boy in a manās body
So he doesnāt see her eyes
He doesnāt look high enough
To notice their mockery
He told her she was a woman in a girlās
She doesnāt believe that
he believes his own words
But she smiled anyway
She thinks
This is what girls do anyways
And when she stumbles home with her friends
Theyāll laugh at his trips and his money
At his grey hair
And itāll ring truer than any laugh
He wrung out of her
