Relics Encountered on an Afternoon Walk
Cheryl Burke

I remember studying Magritte while eating potato pancakes
The scent of cloves in my girlfriend's apartment
My cat wrapping herself around my head on my pillow

I remember the time I woke up on that floor
Crying on that stoop
My friend wiping my nose with her bare hands

I remember drinking from a magnum of wine at that art opening
eating pizza beneath that loft bed
vertigo on the subway steps

I remember staring at my friend's ceiling as the room got smaller
When that street with the fancy restaurants was terrifying
The view of junked cars and weeds from my window

I remember the $1.75 breakfast special
My mother asking me if I was the butch one
Finally throwing out my stonewashed denim jacket from high school

I remember not being able to remember what was in that storefront before
Or what route I took to avoid that street
Or those people I did not want to talk to that time

I remember hot wax on my fingertips
Black jeans in summer
That garlic bread fire in the kitchen

I remember getting the spins in that cab
Finding a wallet in that cab
Leaving my laptop in that cab

I remember standing there waiting for a date or maybe it was just a friend or a friendly date or a friend who would turn into a date and on and on

I remember walking into my reflection in the VIP section of that club
I did this repeatedly and over several years

I remember when my Walkman held a disco mix tape
Taking that elaborate wooden candlestick, with the candle still lit, from that party
I remember when it caught fire years later

I remember hearing a street fight one summer night, while lying on some guy's air mattress in an apartment with no phone, no sheets and no curtains

I remember standing on that roof on my birthday, vowing to make that year different

I remember that bathroom that was like a coffin when you were too high

I remember that cinnamon gum disintegrating in my mouth on the Brooklyn Bridge

I remember that pink champagne in those plastic flutes

I remember drinking whiskey in the shower
Square dancing in that saloon
That stage with the sparkling curtains

I remember that cup of tea that burned going down
Trying to relax in that giant bathtub
And feeling too naked to do so