I finally understood Tom Petty laying atop the art building as college cop lights dashed across canvas under streetlights and stars. The roof was wet and the winds were cold but fireball kept us warm since we hadn’t graduated to those harder proofs. This was enough evidence tonight was the dawn while six more semesters sat chilling in the dorms. I walked back for refills with just the dirt on my clothes only to scale the walls again and see her breath chug across the other side of campus. She left the bottle with a swig and I finished it yet didn’t feel empty. Even the losers get lucky sometimes and this loser found out sometimes wasn’t tonight, but Tom knew that sometime could be soon.
Will Neuenfeldt studied English at Gustavus Adolphus College and his poems are published in Capsule Stories, Months to Years, and Red Flag Poetry. He lives in Cottage Grove, MN, home of the dude who played Steven Stifler in those American Pie movies and a house Teddy Roosevelt slept in.