Severance Package (Leaving Los Angeles)

we had the morning
that follows
hangovers−

where strange fellows;
wake up−
in each other’s arms.

kept warm by
desert moonlights
in delayed shivers−

& wander through
shattered memories
in search of the back stories.

I touch my chest
& feel a pulse that
trembles off-key;

What did I drink?

How did I get so far
from home?

& how do I leave a place
that so many leave
unnoticed, unnoticed?

I ask you your name,
you offer me an audition−

I tell you my name,
you offer me a better one
for theater billboards−

I share my story,
you offer me a gift card
for the dark room of my desires.

The dotted lines never end.

Instead we agree to let the
California sun darken the skin
on my bare back;

& sterilize the truth
from the true;