Mayfly 6

This is a generation

Of fake happiness broadcast

And made to look real.

Social media

Filters out most colors but

Leaves behind the ones

We crave most ourselves.

Friend has taken on a new

Meaning. Not so much

Friend as acquaintance

Whom I frequently snapchat.

Will they be around

When needed, I wonder

Will they answer their cell phone

At five o’clock am?

Be cautious.

Parachutes don’t work as well

If purely ornamental.

Mayfly 5

Scientists will tell you the Grand Canyon

Was formed by a single river

Small particles of water pressing themselves over and over

Past the same dirt and rock

Day after day after day

Wearing it down

Wearing it out

Until the mouth of the canyon grew so vast

It was impossible to capture its immensity on film

Life will tell you the Grand Canyon

Was formed by a single missed phone call

Invisible waves reverberating at a single frequency over and over

Day after day after day

From cell tower to cell tower

Between Michigan and you

Wearing me out

Wearing me down

Until the silence grew so vast

It was impossible to bridge

The picture of us standing on the pier

You, me, and dad

Standing with our backs to the lake

Standing with our shoulders one inch from contact

An inch made up of millions of molecules

Pressed outward against our skin

Just looking at that picture

I can feel the Grand Canyon forming between us

Mayfly 4

The popping of her bubblegum

Sent a pulse

Through my unexplored juvenile body

My heart beat tearing holes

Through my ears

Like halftime high school drumlines

I never seemed to muster

The courage to

Speak aloud in her presence

Crooked smiled caramel brown skinned

Beautiful bubblegum Goddess

Ever present in my mind