skin tight/worn thin
By Royce Kurmelovs
Published 1 January 2021
the story in these jeans is skin tight
it's the concrete dust from the rooftop you climbed
the first time you stayed up all night to watch the sunrise
it's the rhythm in dancing by yourself to the record on the stereo
and solitary night-time bike rides
just you and the wind and the road and the world flying home together
it's the footsteps from the has-been's 'til Now
the distance from The Old Country to Forever
60 000 tangled threads of human history growing up
and saying thanks mum and dad for your
chapter in this fabric
it's making out in the driver's seat
glowing under the headlights of passing cars
and the fist raised at the punk show like it's
all power to the people with face piercings
it's the devil and the details
the dye and the stitching
the assembly line wage-slave labour
and 5000 miles ending on a barcode
this is a story about life
worn thin
these jeans are everything i am
everything i have been