My Only Friend's House: A Running List

Her house was cat piss and vinegar. She’s in the piss, I’m in the vinegar.
I always loved that exact radiator, exact silver hum.
Meditate on those chocolates, serenade paternal visitation, 
     Brown as the eldest kitten
That dug into my sweater
Thread loose, pulled
—Ruined. 
Her room was this quilted must, 
Patched nail holes, where our paintings 
Were hung—

I had a room, once,
‘Lily’s room,’ that’s where it all was 
Abraded bath towels, cooked black carp
My mother painted it a pale yellow—
     I wrote my name on the baseboard. 
It will live there for a while, denning as her kittens
The brown tub we showered together in, 
Pushed our nymph bodies inward, 
Caught snowflakes with the heathered steam. 

And her bed sheets opened themselves to me
And we lay there 
And I smile in bed of cat piss.