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Riley R 


‘Friday’


.
Friday


I wake up at 3:30am after 4hrs of sleep.

I have to set three alarms to make sure of this because I am stupid.

I begin working on the assignment due today.

I make a lot of progress because I am smart.

-

At work, I move groggily between jobs and make bad small talk with my coworkers.

I am setting up a computer and have to start from scratch 4 times over the course of hours because I am dumb.

At lunch I continue to work on my assignment, I am following a breakthrough I found because I am very smart.

It leads to a dead end because I am dumb.

By the end of the day I set up a computer in half an hour because I am smart.

-

I use the time between work and tonight to catch up on sleep.

-

At the show, I watch one of my true friends summon magic into the air on stage.

She has a deep understanding and skill in her craft. It is grand to see that folk musician sing.

For some brief, beautiful moments, our souls are aligned.

-

The older sister I never had sings along dramatically to our friends around us.

I am the only other person who knows the words to these songs.

She does not sing to me. I do not know why.

-

After my true friend is finished with my soul, I say my goodbyes.

I plan to get food with another friend and her girlfriend then head home.

A high school mate asks if I am going with others to another bar, but I tell him my plan.

He jokes about preparing for my first threesome.

It is such a shame that he cannot separate sex and lesbians in his mind.

I expected better from him.

I tell him that's not going to happen, and that even if it did, it wouldn't be my first threesome.

That shuts him up.

-

After dropping off my friends, I drive home with the windows down and my arm stretched out into the night.

The buffeting wind gives me millions of cold kisses.

My car, she is an extension of myself.

We sprint down the midnight city streets together.

I am one with her.

I am one with the wind.

I am one with my city.

For some brief, beautiful moments, my soul realigns with reality.

-

I get home and I write this poem.





About the Author 


Riley has lived in Meeanjin-Brisbane for as long as they can remember and love it deeply. They especially love seeing local performance art live, and take any chance they can to see plays and gigs around the city.