by Nick Roberts
christmas mornings in the 2000’s meant
waking up with my sister &
going to open presents it was so
simple back then & my dad would
make french toast
i look back on photos in books full of
jumping in leaf piles birthdays with
pumpkin pie instead of cake me
holding my sister going down waterslides that one time i
flipped off the tube & sunk down to the
bottom of the pool while i was down there i
tasted french toast in my cheeks i
bit them till the red syrup streamed through my
teeth turning the chlorine into strawberry milk
living in the farmhouse meant
power flickering in january every year lighting
candles no furnace no heat so blankets & huddling together
i remember driving to school & my car shutting off
being stuck on the side of the road
i remember dancing front & center on a wooden stage i
remember going to college & falling in love
for real the first time i
remember certain things but not
everything because
everything was so simple back then when
my dad would make
french toast