of the tin wolf the purple iris orange slices drying for garland filling the house with citrus the house we made ours its leaky pipes its shoddy wiring here’s to the year of painted nails flakes of peeled polish in the cupholder driving to the drug store for a new shade the windshield sheathed in ice driving to the drug store for something to do a magazine a coke zero low moon wolf moon the church on the corner “JESUS GOD GOD GOD” on the marquee hundred-gallon steel tubs for adult baptisms stacked and left out in the snow year of perhaps a thousand coke zeroes feeling like zeroes dividing by zero spiraling disassociating missing the point baring teeth reframing paying attention really paying attention games of twenty questions where the answer splits our sides where the answer goes unfound stumps us a jubilation of yellow wood poppies in the backyard year of sapphic pop horny pop ornery pop a mix for each season weighing the environmental impact of a long drive to nowhere redefining worship observing the solstices weaponizing the phrase “one wild and precious life” to pump each other up year of the dental scam of being put on hold given the runaround reassuring spending time apart and hating it acknowledging the rich inner lives of strangers talking shit touching hands reaching out touching me touching you touching you touching you here’s to the year of the doomed fiddle leaf fig the hanging ferns crisped brown in the sun collecting autumn leaves in a parking lot with our goddaughter still finding them in the backseat months later year she told her mom “daddy drinks when he drives me” year of time distortion other people’s baby showers other people’s babies year of trying of fertility windows clinics watercolor landscapes in waiting rooms ultrasounds blood tests patient portals sample receptacles waiting waiting waiting year of “beginning middle and end is a fatal notion of order” of throwing the double peace sign coming up with inventive ways to kill ourselves if things don’t turn around things not turning around things turning for the worse year of “did you see the news” looking up the best kind of combine harvester to jump in front of year we didn’t kill ourselves tiny victories fifty percent off the most perfect goddamn poinsettia we’ve ever seen deleting accounts learning slowly learning when to log off year of the squonk labatt blue bottle beaded with ice faerie smut on audiobook cranking the volume when it gets real spicy squealing howling singing orange daylilies orange zest leaving notes licking the spoon getting our hands dirty here’s to you year of get in year of let’s go for a ride year of baby if we go we’re going all the way