Bringer of Joy

5 May 2026

You have spent most of your life longing

and all of your life loving

your mother named you and your father said “maybe”

and when your father won a contest

he took your mother to Venice

you missed her every night

and at summer camp you cried yourself to sleep

but then you met god

and learned you were a masterpiece

and for a decade more you hid away

before ever saying it

you held it in

through every earthquake

and all the riots

through the sounds of fireworks from your little stoop you pretended was a balcony

during the hottest day of the summer

you went back inside your room

and plotted how you could love him more

and only after standing in the sun

after growing up in the rain

did they finally pay you any notice

but you were loving all along!

your love doesn’t heal

it transfers to another state

and you change jobs every couple years

because you’re a transformer

and so far your lovers stay the same 

even if they lose weight and buzz their heads

and find hyaluronic acid and self tan

now my mornings are cold and I sleep in layers

my evenings are warm and now I’m a regular

the glass he pours me gets heavier

and I find every gesture endearing

what they realize maybe later

is that I am the bringer of joy

and I draw stars

and I had so much to tell them

the walls are rotting away

and the roaches might come back

but I’m renewing my lease

because I’m not one to lose a beautiful girl who loves me.