Splitting California

Published in Issue 2 of Sonder Midwest.

somewhere between bakersfield & fresno the
camper became sentient
heard me say i'd never been &
that i had grown
accustomed to her skin in the twin
bed & the wheels turned west
carried us all the way to frisco
the stove long since broken & her 70s
covergirl hair twisting into
pastel dreamcatchers we were
splitting california under our fingernails
an orange peel rocking on a golden hemisphere we were
unripening under the palms
bruised like central park crabapples &
sweating juice on the dashboard &
for once i fell in love &
not just because it was summer or maybe
because it was always summer between the
rings on her slender fingers & the faded tattoos
a rose garden &
constellations on her hips