Dave came downstairs looking 
for a screw which had fallen from his window that 
became a rock on the porch floor and 
morphed 
into a rambling recollection of ’70s TV shows 

it was hot upstairs and 
easy to blame his rambling on sun and humid air but 
Dave was as animated when the air was cooler in 
shorts such a bright red they could have been on fire 
intense as his mind 

even as he monologued as if wandering through black smoke 
staggered back and forth 
and went upstairs 
his shirtless back a question mark 

Bio: Jonathan Yungkans