rendezvous
by Valeria Pedraza
with Tegan & Sara lyrics
i was nineteen & the clattering drums with scribbling guitar
sounded like driving north & kissing
my girl on driftwood.
chemicals in my brain so loud, they’d drown
the train’s screeching & blaring. i swore we stole the sunset
& volleyed the colors with our tongues, tasting clove & cardamom,
until the phone rang through & split the hypnosis.
now we’re saying bye, bye, bye,
shooing sand from our shorts, praying the stoplights glow green
in solidarity. same plans the next day & the next until summer
felt the need to lay down or her mother detected the fibs & flush,
clutched her chest, heaving
my heart, i don’t even know you
i was nineteen & the clattering drums with scribbling guitar
sounded like driving north & kissing
my girl on driftwood.
chemicals in my brain so loud, they’d drown
the train’s screeching & blaring. i swore we stole the sunset
& volleyed the colors with our tongues, tasting clove & cardamom,
until the phone rang through & split the hypnosis.
now we’re saying bye, bye, bye,
shooing sand from our shorts, praying the stoplights glow green
in solidarity. same plans the next day & the next until summer
felt the need to lay down or her mother detected the fibs & flush,
clutched her chest, heaving
my heart, i don’t even know you
Valeria Pedraza is a queer Mexican writer from the Pacific Northwest. A McCormack Writing Center Workshop alum, she has received scholarships and fellowships from Abode Press, Brooklyn Poets, and Undocupoets. She lives in New York City.