for abby

she’s getting better
at using public restrooms

she knows she shouldn’t
mix painkillers and beer
but it feels poetic

when she comes home
she always gropes
to find the door handle
in the darkness

doesn’t know when to
quit and go back

there are too many
unanswered questions
but maybe she’s just happy

little brown bird
won’t go home with men
she just meets
because the mornings after are
the most startling
taken in by an updraft
never finding a place to set down

long term planning
only something she thought about
philosophically

when she was young she
scraped her knee after
taking a jump
off a swing
still doesn’t approve
of dismantling playgrounds

for the first time
she decided to get changed
at the gym in
the general area
didn’t feel the eyes
of others over her limbs
but couldn’t stop staring
to see if she recognized
other shapely figures