THE LAST PARTY ON EARTH

Let’s pop champagne & watch the bubbles swirl in our flutes.  
Let’s play Twister & feel our arms & legs brush against one another.
Let’s feel July lick our backs as we slip into our swimsuits.
Make a wish and watch it flutter kick the summer air.  

Let’s play Twister & feel our arms & legs brush against one another.
Take my hand & show me the fireflies dying against the night.
Make a wish and watch it. Flutter kick the summer air,  
shove a chocolate in my hand & tell me I’ll be alright.

Take my hand & show me the fireflies dying against the night.
We deal cards across the table. I draw Spades
& shove a chocolate into my mouth. Tell me: you’ll be alright.
Paint my nails, sing me a song. Weave my hair into a French braid. 

We deal cards across the table. I draw Spades.
We’re too distracted: the stars have vanished along with the anemones.
Paint my nails, sing me a song. Weave my hair into a French braid. 
Will you blame us for all the things we didn’t see?

Are we too distracted? The stars have vanished along with the anemones.
Let’s feel July lick our backs as we slip into our swimsuits.
You will blame us for all the things we didn’t see.
Let’s pop champagne & watch the bubbles swirl in our flutes.

Shannon K. Winston’s book, The Girl Who Talked to Paintings (Glass Lyre Press), was published in 2021. Her individual poems have appeared in Bracken, Cider Press Review, On the Seawall, RHINO Poetry, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers and lives in Bloomington, IN. Find her here: https://shannonkwinston.com.