*For the Broken Bottles and Patio Furniture*

*For the Broken Bottles and Patio Furniture*
by Jordan McElheran
how many times did we
sit on the porch with beers
thinking of all the sweet things
we could do in a life’s time, all
the bitter things we’d hoped to avoid,
hopping fences, barely making it by, being
nineteen and unsupervised?
now, like
the patina on the porch boards, only the
memory is so bright, and, like the bottle
opener, it seems some things go missing
for good.