Josh Lefkowitz
Dean was my roommate in Sunset Park.
Grandma, I loved ‘til her lights went dark.
I dated Sharon for nearly three years.
JJ’s my best friend: football, beers.
Lisa, a cousin who lives upstate.
Elaine: dear friend and another roommate.
Mom and Dad show me love that won’t quit.
Plus Chrissy’s Aunt, in Connecticut.
Who am I forgetting? Others, I’m sure.
As if full confession signals full cure.
Still, I wish I could form a group call,
Say “sorry that I stole pills from you all.”
Josh Lefkowitz received an Avery Hopwood Award for Poetry at the University of Michigan. His poems and essays have been published in The New York Times, New Poetry from the Midwest 2019, Washington Square Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, Electric Literature, Barrelhouse, Hobart, The Millions, The Rumpus, and many other places. Additionally, his poems have been read aloud on All Things Considered and WNYC, and printed on the side of a bus in Nashville, Tennessee. He previously performed a pair of full-length autobiographical monologues in theaters and spaces across the country. Twitter: @jelefko