Birthday Exodus
Jonathan ValaniaJuly 7th, 2018
Pain, friends, beer.
I laugh—
but only because it’s expected.
It’s my birthday.
I want to disappear.
I keep saying I’m introverted—
maybe I’m just exhausted
from performing.
The flowers on my desk
are already wilting—
beside the letter about you.
I said I’d be in Utah next week,
under stars,
breathing in God.
But tonight,
I can barely breathe.
God, I hate it here.
Same voices.
New masks.
I wore mine for you.
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