Nate Pritts

Nate Pritts

Calendar Lessons

I looked at the day like a problem to solve
or a lesson pertaining to my flagging
endurance but also I was aware of the hours

as a square on the wall - packaged & parceled
& already delivered. The minutes misinterpreted,
emptied of their thesaurus, a skeleton ticking

surrounded by sand. I was deemed unworthy
but I grabbed up all the medals. I was told to get lost
but I came back with my map. I decided to run

when the alarm said act crazy, though my knees
were two snow globes, blustery & nostalgic.
People line up with questions for the jackets

but they’re just blowing steam from the pipe
in their teeth. The answers are truly uncomplicated;
just look at the billboards. They tell us they know it.

Hundreds of visitors drive their cars on my planet
& they all look so healthy trapped in metal bubbles.
Today I wrote exactly one poem & I wrote it

with my eyes down the length of your neck.
My desire was carbon, dated or copied, but it broke
down eventually. Sometimes what’s most needed

is food & sometimes the food is just food & not
fireworks. A rhubarb pie is a gift even ungiven.
Pretend it’s your birthday again & the thoughts

that fall out of your head are pretty or gone.
I’ll help you clean up the splatter & save the old napkins.
I’ll jump when you say so but not because I love you.

It’s what I do every day to prove gravity wrong
& to stretch out my lungs. There’s air all around me
but I’m ready & greedy. I’m the best argument for staying alive.