I went to Parris
The summer I turned 20
And not a single photo taken of me
Was worthy of Instagram
But I’ll never forget parris
I’ll never forget the smell
The sand
The sweat
The sound
Of the summer that made me
And the way my wide bay window faced
The West
So I watched the sunset every night
if my eyes could stay open
long enough
I met the love of my life
In Parris
even while I pretended
we were short term friends
I sung your hymn like hallelujah
Like it was the only song I knew
Like I could sing it once a year
and cover up the years that fucked up all my joints
and puked up all my guts
and shoved me in a corner
with all the other girls
and killed Spencer
and almost killed me
and never showed up to couples therapy
But I don’t blame you
I’m stuck in Parris too
under the clear, southern stars
I could see through the pines
That one night spent
on the crumbling runway
But the night changed to morning
without the sun
and we walked the streets of Parris
leaving little yellow footprints
until we reached Iwo Jima
and I stood in line
for my hunk of metal
where Parris gave me everything
K. Dexter is a poet and former USMC Military Police Officer. Follow her here.
What’s happening at VetRep…
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