The office door opens.
Sunlight beams in: Adam.
He says surprise, he’s home for winter break.
So relieved I am to see him,
for a second it’s like nothing’s changed,
my life makes sense and I know who I am.
I run to him.
Hug him.
His smell is something new.
The staff huddles around us, him,
asks what college is like, if he misses Yearbook,
he smiles at me, says he misses other things more.
He’s impressed by our layouts,
I shut the messed-up drawer.
Tell him I’m so happy he’s here.
He says it is just for tonight;
his family leaves for Jamaica in the morning.
That night, something else new—
we play quarters with his old high school friends.
He says he’s been drinking some, college, experimentation.
I nod, tell him likewise, and his friend Dave gives me a drink
each time a quarter lands in the Statue of Liberty mug.
Plink. Plink.
Drink.