Having a Coke With You

is even more fun than traversing upstate to Peekskill and hiking
            to the summit
or playing pacman at Barcade on 24th Street or St. Marks
or eating plates of expensive Omakase or real Italian pasta
            out in Brooklyn
partly because of how happy a customer service brawl makes you
partly because of how competitive you are, partly because
            of your smile
partly because of the bog you tiptoed across over the pond
            in Prospect Park
partly because you held my hand to stay balanced
it is hard to believe when I’m with you that there are other people
            out there better for us
even
            after you said
we would wait six months to see how we felt

the nails you ordered from Amazon are still waiting for me
to hang all of those paintings you ordered online
                                    As Frank said, “I look
at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits
in the world”
            and that scares me
especially the portrait of you I have in my mind standing
            in the doorway
when I said I couldn’t do this anymore and you said you didn’t
            love me
and that very same day earlier under the four pm late New York
            summer sun
we split a bottle of wine and dipped into the same bowl
            of Tiramisu
and walked for two hours telling stories which is why, even now,
            I want to have a coke with you


Hillary Adler is the CEO and Co-Founder of The Warblr, a political humor website fighting the Trump administration one laugh at a time. She holds an MFA from The New School and her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Poetry Foundation, Huffington Post, Bustle, Marie Claire, Public Pool and elsewhere. She curates and co-hosts The Red Room Poetry Series at KGB Bar in NYC, and can be found on twitter @HillaryAdler.

Featured photo via Flickr.

Comments are closed.