Evan Chapin
Amalek
When my knuckles are cold and
there’s mud in my boots I still
think about Amalek and pink straws
stuck in rum-soused coconuts.
Why do you think I agreed to
all this if it wasn’t for your Amalek.
the summer at the end of the tunnel?
Long ago you gave me the pass
to Amalek and it was all
I had to look forward to during
those cold-knuckle months.
All the way back in October,
I quietly remember hurting
from sitting on your banister
and making shit up to breathe life
into my life and I remember you telling
me about a place called Amalek,
and I am so sorry I never
had the stuff to get there.