# #airplanes

2 poems

## [AS 21](https://chromato.graphics/as21)

if you’re hearing this,  
it’s ’cause i trust you.  
there’s a lot of detail,  
high resolution scans.

i take an early flight.  
nothing good is easy.  
_what am i forgetting?_  
chocolate orange peels.

i program on the airplane  
to distract from humming  
in my eardrums; an engine  
whirring to life in my chest.

she applies the night before  
risks her body just for more.  
she knows she has to see it  
before i remember my face.

jetway’s made of glass,  
eyes have steel blades.  
_what am i forgetting?_  
54-inch red shoelace.

_“do you want to get the_  
_fuck out of this airport?”_  
she picks up both bags  
before i can say a word.

she borrows a tapedeck.  
i hold her knee. _is this ok?_  
the postal service can’t  
ship this in a flat rate box.

distance desires ritual  
we find a matchbook  
_what am i forgetting?_  
ashen coffee. burning.

the next thing i know  
we’re at the terminal.  
lipstick can stain more  
than cardboard cups

**time stopped in total:**  
14 hours, 28 minutes

## [readwrite](https://chromato.graphics/readwrite)

have you ever  
had a girl cause  
engineering  
just for it, though

weeks of design  
on a one-off  
built for the thing —  
to program it

on the airplane  
commit to it:  
make it perfect,  
then install it

when you get there,  
show it slowly  
touch a curved shape  
feel its edges

unarchive it  
press it with force  
watch it open,  
animated

every app must  
have its settings  
even if they  
never vary

have you ever  
caused a toy to  
glow from within  
white light blinking

when you read it  
you can see it:  
why it matters,  
what you’ll put there

have you ever  
caused a thing to  
strip itself bare  
kernel panic!

this will only  
take a second,  
last a lifetime  
deep within you

type it all out  
hold it down now  
your domain, name  
hit the button

have you ever  
felt an object  
as it’s written  
becoming yours