Nowhere Else to Go
Turn off the lights.
 Wear another layer.
 (Sounds like a dad.)
 (Sounds like a mom.)
 You say hand-me-down.
 I say retro.
 Walk.
 Bike.
 Walk some more.
 Recycle.
 (See what I did there,
 bike—recycle?)
 Your name in Sharpie
 on a good water bottle.
 Backpack. New habits.
 No thanks, don’t need a bag.
 What else.
 Oh yeah.
 Tell ten friends
 who can tell ten friends
 who can tell ten friends ...
 Make enough noise,
 maybe the grown-ups
 will finally hear
 the scream in the title.
Source: Poetry (March 2021)


