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IN THE HOUSE OF RUNAWAYS

by leah neiboer

 

 

 

where night will shipwreck

its lonesome line

of stars—

 

where we ran

once to see what it was like—

being unconstellated—

 

a boy there

with his jeans drying on a bicycle frame

said

I’m ancient

 

like he’d just learned what that word means

and wasn’t someone coming

up out of his body then

 

they’re gonna put my body in a big fancy box

in the museum

next to the dinosaurs

 

you know how

he said

 

like they did in Egypt

he kicked an imaginary wheel

looked up at my face

said

you’re the moon,

you’re like that too

Leah Nieboer grew up in Iowa. She is a PhD candidate in English and Literary Arts at the University of Denver, an editorial assistant for Denver Quarterly, a graduate of the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers, and the recipient of a Virginia Center for Creative Arts Fellowship.

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