Sticky Notes Above my Desk

verses lead me to the water,

it smells. i take my clothes off

and lay down in the creek, and i wonder

if i’m seaworthy. i sink in two feet deep,

waterlogged.

the Sun saves me, she draws near

and dries me up, but i remember icarus

flying and drying and eventually frying–

i turn away, she hides her face.

her heat burns me into a rectangle

to fit in the box my parents carefully

crafted for me. i never seem to fit.

but if i stand very still, all made up,

i seem to be just sticky enough to

post to the wall, an encapsulation

of a dream they had long ago. it’s

not me, truly, but i’ll sit still to

dwell in this chest forever