when he appeared there before the hole in the ground a summer evening he
held out to me before the hole in the ground my rosebud skateboard he held
out  to me  distortion  &  power  chords  my  rosebud  skateboard so like two
night trains distortion & power chords side by side we rode so like two night
trains stems  resprouted  in  my  heart side by side we rode through desolate
streets in  my  heart  stems  resprouted  consecutive  tricks  through desolate
streets known in skating as a line consecutive tricks a call & response known
in skating  as a line into our past a call & response under flickering lamplight
into our  past  our  boards  echo  under  sodium streetlight then I reached for
him our  boards  echo  to  touch  his  face  once  again  then I reached for him
slowly  through still air once again to touch his face my hand pushed through
him  through  still  air  slowly  a  reverse  cymbal  sounding  pushed my  hand
through him forward I tumbled a reverse cymbal sounding & thumped to the
ground  forward  I tumbled among frightwigs of dead grass & thumped to the
ground his  name  on  my  lips among frightwigs of dead grass the dark of the
hole his  name on my lips a summer evening I will never stop replaying when
he appeared there

—

Jaydn DeWald is a writer, educator, musician, and the author of three limited-edition chapbooks, The Rosebud Variations: And Other Variations (Greying Ghost, 2017); In Whose Hand the Light Expires (Yellow Flag Press, 2018); and as counterpoint to this compressed mass a longing (forthcoming from Sutra Press). His poems, stories, and critical essays have appeared in Australian Book Review, the Best New Poets anthology (2015), Brilliant Corners: A Journal of Jazz & Literature, south: a scholarly journal, West Branch, and many other publications. He lives with his partner and two kids in Bogart, Georgia, where he’s a PhD candidate at the University of Georgia.