Emergency

Arm-in-arm, I forgot
               what the city looks like from a helicopter,

what the city looks like in the middle of winter during the middle of the night,
               do you remember

in the middle of the street and what I am saying,
               what shape is this, and you hold it up, prism—

what does the city look like
when the middle of the sky opens,
what is beyond that, tell me, what are we looking for, don’t die right now
               this view is worth every single

               and it is snowing and I forgot what the Earth’s axis says: Yes (at all times),
               Yes, whatever the circumstance, Yes, I forgot to tell you, Yes.

— Katie Jean Shinkle