You Can't nostalgia-bait a hypertrophic scar

sadistic              /     masochistic       /      bored

this is what pop music does     /      to the        /          reanimated corpse 

when you’re just a kid;            /   sallow weak bone   /    and skin that pinks but won’t bruise

oscillating sex poles and          /  weighing pain against pleasure   /   they get you nothing but 

full house reruns and       /    smoke-beige wallpapers and    /      wasted time 

i don’t know               /           i don’t know anymore      /       i don’t know 

i don’t know what to say but /   i’m glad   /    you were bumping lady gaga

that’s good                  /       that was ten years ago  /  but you can’t nostalgia-bait a hypertrophic scar 

because                  /    all that sleeps beneath are      /      dormant wounds and 

all i want is to saline wash    /      the pasts     /     teeth growing out of the wrong places

this fucked-up mouth    /   all that breathes above   /    stutter-stepped into soft-jaw swears 

and silences             /           are the futures      /    depression and nostalgia 

are body genres  /       like milk and tylenol        /        curdled and tampered 

About the Author

Riley James Russo is a sophomore creative writing student split between Ohio and Pennsylvania whose creative efforts mostly focus on depicting the horrors of the human condition.