They want it to be the same thing
to be born and to turn seventeen.
See how long they waited,
how similar they are
to what they were.
Stridulation is an educational
name for their repetitive song
that does not sound, to outsiders, like music at all.
Litterbugs, shutterbugs, clicking practitioners
of non-attachment to what was their skin and their clothes—
It took such time
before they could look you in the eye,
and make an impression beyond the asynchronous
husk or mask of what they used to be.
As you sweep the rest of them off
the hood and front seat of your car, your porch, hat brim, etc.
remember why they can’t help but leave
these hollow parts that were not so much theirs
as them.
We are already done. It wasn’t fair.
We will bury ourselves
again, after our one
ride through your duplicitous, temperate air.