FOSSILS

the picture of us
thumbtacked to my wall remains
for now, I study our smiling faces on top of a mountain
you in the sunglasses I broke two hours afterword
the plastic that will rot in a landfill for eternity

I imagine the tack holes in the drywall will stump
paleontologists thousands of years from now, as I am sure no one will
print pictures anymore and I want them to think they are footprints
little circles left from spider legs or drills from woodpeckers
back when there were still trees and houses to slurp spiders from

and I want the fossils of us to live in the rock long after we die
after the great great grandchildren of our generation die
I want us in a museum, bright yellow lights on all our good sides
safe, behind glass and red velvet stanchions
to be the topic of debate on some ninth-grade field trip if those still exist then
scholars will study our skeletons for ages

and form hypotheses on my hips and ribs and lungs
me, the next Lucy, the newest discovery of human evolution
how my bones were shaped exactly for yours to hold me in a tight embrace
how my pelvis locks against yours like a key
how my digits slide in between yours so perfectly

I beg you to let me sleep next you again, even though we did last night
and all the nights before that
and you say it’s not like there won’t be future opportunities
but I could die tomorrow
I could be hit by a bus or fall out of a tree
or my heart could just stop
one night it will be the last time
and I don’t know when that will happen, but it could be soon

there’s no way of knowing when we will leave
so, I never release from your torso, never stop holding your hand
I will play with your hair until the decades turn to dust
and archeologists uncover our skeletons in a tomb
you and I, us, the Lovers of Valdaro
for six thousand years, I will never let go

Audrey Fatone resides in Central New York, where is she is finishing her degree in Environmental Biology from SUNY-ESF. She formed the school’s Poetry Society and loves connecting with fellow students over writing. Audrey seeks inspiration from hiking and exploring the Adirondack and White Mountains of the Northeast. Her work will also appear in The Rainbow Poems and The Voices Project this upcoming spring.