the 24th hour

What did we do last year?  God don’t ask me that.  I don’t remember.  Maybe it was our Michael Jordan year and we won’t even know until a thousand more days have passed unnoticed.  I miss you all already.  Our life flying by, and some months we feel every minute of it, mostly the unpleasant months, and others we feel nothing but vague goodness, and then there’s one of those nights when we’re just loose, not drunk but easy with each other and so kind, and we’re laughing and just golden.  And while we rest between those nights, we’ll be sitting in bars talking about our lives, like they haven’t started yet.  When the talking about our lives is our life.

I love you all, you know who you are.  The people running across intersections for the bus, and the ones I know most of all.  Throwing picture frames across the room, I find out things I never knew about you.  I like you more for them.  The things that allow total forgiveness.  I need it too, but you already knew that.

The prettiest people become normal as you get to know them, their beauty relaxing behind the mistakes, the kindnesses, the early mornings.  I am surprised to see the people I know in pictures, unbelievably lovely, I haven’t been able to see them that way in ages.

Throwing a picture frame across the room, I can’t get that out of my mind.  Things have been hard between us, but better for it I know that’s true.  I hope you know everything too, all you pretty villains.

The N Judah coming up from underground, and the stairs falling down beneath you.  Another year by the Bay.  I’ll take it.