the first thing you notice about me is
the way I saunter to grab a ginger ale
from the cooler
              “it’s my favorite.”
brush you, smile at your friends
and kind of swarm them.
starting intense conversations but not
finishing them, and always alluding
to my prescience without
saying anything.
you’ll say if there’s anything I’ve mastered,
its the smirk  not the crowd.

but then I retreat.
linger near the exit the rest of the night
with the crumpled straw in my hand
and the temper.
the proclamations,
the poems,
the exits.

I like the way you held my hand
and said my name.
      my name is artemis.
and sometimes things  just catch on fire.
you say I always crouch with a
bow in hand.
            “I’m just nervous”
and that when I am lying I look away really
fast.
and you know I fucked your friends
and you know I’ll fuck some more
and you see me on the screen
  my name is Artemis.
parting lips, combing bangs,
practicing inflection as I said
I would.you said you’ll always remember
the way I laughed LOUD and so sudden
like you were the funniest man in
the room.
and I’ll always remember
the way the door frame dripped
and bled to one sorrel-orange
as I walked across the welcome mat
throwing matches as you swept,
the windows becoming a
nice carrot color and then
disappearing.