Tonight I hiked up the hill
behind my house
and sat on my favorite rock on the hill.

I looked out over the
San Francisco Bay
and watched the sun set beyond the coastal range.

My favorite rock waits
patiently
for me every day.

Do you think
that I
thought about her as the sky turned from blue to orange to red to black?

My favorite rock has room for two.

Leaving Long Beach

The yellow sun had risen
over Long Beach that cold
December morning and I

was standing on her green doormat.
She answered the slow, wooden door,
sick and tired and crying,

and I felt the same.
She wore the old, familiar
comfortable sweats–

the light blue Sierra Nevada brewery hoodie
that I gave her years ago, the beat up royal blue
sweatpants that have seen better

days. My eyes were red and swollen
and full of salty dog tears
and the words

caught in my aching throat.
My heavy breath was visible in the
early morning cold

of that December morning.
“Don’t say goodbye”, she said…
But it was.

Oh my head.
Dead leaves on the floor,
Beer cans everywhere,
137 pairs of wet socks.
What the fuck happened last night?

Fell asleep in my contact lenses again
Gimme a shot of Captain Morgan’s!
Because that’s what pirates drink
And we’re pirates
What the fuck happened last night?

I remember falling down
But after that, nothing
Another blackout
Oh Silver Fox, why? Why?!
What the fuck happened last night?