Daylight Savings
by Dante Clark
What the fuck. The way my loneliness is setup,
I’ll take a sexy lamp’s blink as urge enough to come-hither.
It’s Friday, for christ’s sake, and I’m dressed like a thot, and no one's around
to see it. It’s Friday and the sun’s snuck off to its coastal hideout before happy hour.
I’m wondering where’d it go? My closest star. Gone west
with the rest of my chosen family drained by New York’s steel-fanged
bite? It’s unforgiving concrete. Its summer-winter-fall-and-spring
that could all be felt in one day? It’s a tough city to dress appropriate
for and I’m over it. And I love it. And I ping pong
between these giant feelings pushing me into my couch’s comfy dimensions.
My ass found a portal it doesn’t want to escape. My ass, the great explorer.
Fits perfectly in a barstool if one were available. But it’s 3 pm.
Even though it looks like midnight. Even though the school busses
are filled with children under a premature night’s sky.
And the business hours of every local office are confused
by the presence of the moon. It’s standing over us all,
arms crossed, patient like a stoic bouncer who clocked in too early.
Wondering “where’s the line of people.” And I’d be first to say,
haven’t you heard, dear moon, the club doesn’t open for another
few hours. But if you want, I could show you my ID right now.
It’s been too long since someone’s studied my face.
Called me beautiful. Called me anything at all.
Dante Clark (he/him) is a writer, musician, and actor from the Bronx, NY where he's usually waxing poetic about grief, fart jokes and wine (what a combination). A two-time Pushcart nominee, his work has been featured in The Root, Afropunk, wildness, Brooklyn Poets’ Poet of the Week, The Slowdown, and elsewhere. Clark graduated from Hunter College with a BA in creative writing and he has the student loan debt to prove it. He’s performed his poetry at venues like the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the Bowery Poetry Club, The Montauk Club, and his living room (much to the chagrin of his downstairs neighbors). Clark’s also received support from organizations including Catapult, Cave Canem, and In Surreal Life where he served as a co-fellow for the 2021 sessions. Along with wanting to free the land, Dante just wants to create in a world where all his homies can prosper.