Ode to the Catskills and To You

september came like a baby,

like a wail of a train as it disappears

behind a mountain. 

the light hitting the curtains.

the rain hitting the roof.

us, barefoot and wanting.


the everything of it all, soft and unbearable.

me unclasping your bra for you, slowly,

like pulling out stitches.

that fall as polaroids hanging above my bed:

blackcurrants on your lips.

the bleach-white bones of baby birds.

me, re-piercing my ear with a thumbtack.

you, laughing. your hair wet from a bath.

i loved you and the soft shirts you slept in,


curled around me. pictures never captured the magic,

the way the trees shivered with rain

and the milkweed danced with the wind.

how you taught me the names

of every star in the sky, and everything we wanted 

poured itself right into our open hands.

Ari Watkins

ARI WATKINS (they/them) is an emerging teen poet from Brooklyn, New York. They are a graduate of the Reynold's Young Writers program at Denison University. Their poem 'red-tailed hawks' won first place in the 2023 Ned Vizzini Teen Writing Contest and was published in the Brooklyn Public Library's Teen Writing Journal. When not writing, they are pointing out Jupiter in the night sky. You can find them on Instagram at @ariwatkiins

Previous
Previous

Dear Kay,

Next
Next

For My Friend, With love