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William Hicks

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Not Old Yet

but I look at the barista’s skin
covered shoulder to fingertip
in intricate figures of bones, decay, drooping roses
and I wonder

what tattoo I would have gotten at her age
and what five years after that
and what six months later
and what when I got married/engaged/hired/fired/drunk
and if I had them all now
what would this empty canvas look like

and you just can’t ask those questions
and still call yourself young

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When The Children Ask You

I saw a rat in the aisle of the movie theater
I saw my friend picking out a prom dress with her mother
I saw a waterfall you could only reach by trespass or helicopter
I saw three human teeth on the football field
I saw what happens to a dead dog after fourteen days of Georgia summer
I saw a bunch of hippies walking barefoot over gravel outside our house, leaned out the window to
                holler I’m getting too young for this shit!
I saw Mrs K slipping two hundred dollars into her pocket before she went to meet with the principal
I saw nothing at all when the wind blew M’s skirt up around her waist right in front of me cause I
                looked away too fast but afterward she laughed so hard she choked saying why did I wear green
                apple underwear?
I saw blood on the fencepost I jumped over to visit the camp horses at midnight but I never told a soul
I saw who stole an entire cake from the breakroom and I told everyone who would listen
I saw them breathing in the middle of the night and that’s enough for me; don’t worry if they never ask
                you a goddamn thing

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William P Hicks is a graduate of the Brown University Literary Arts MFA program and the author of Stargazer’s Kitchen, a collection of poems from Synecdoche Press. He currently lives in Charlotte, NC. His poetry, prose, and hybrid monstrosities have appeared in Conjunctions, Hummingbird, TBQ, and elsewhere.

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