How to Start a Collection

i tried to be a vegan once and it

only lasted for two weeks because i

know that ice cream can erase

most mistakes and i can't resist

temptation. the day i broke my

streak i was at the dmv and i spent

$1.50 on a Hershey's bar with

almonds while the driving instructor

who called me "babe" and who

smelled like Spearmint gum and

habitual predation finally took

his murky eyes off my baby  

knees. it tasted exactly like

that night i kept trying to see your

face in the smudges of dirt on his

stucco nowhere ceiling

i think i found you once

i never read Harry Potter

i have always been a realist

i kissed a girl made of peach liquor and

pressed flowers because i was 

tired of the 6am winter and the

way it shook my hollow bones. she

had eyes like the best secret you

ever heard and for a moment, it

was so, so warm

i'm not afraid of dying but i am

still afraid of running into you

at the supermarket

i was 9 when i told myself i would

start a collection of something. i

have fourteen antique hats on my

shelves covered in dust like fairy

trails and i have a filmstrip of your

collarbones rotting in my brain and i

do not remember when i told myself it was

okay to start collecting 

ghosts