eep & peep

eep met peep
in a dark cellar,
a room full of rats
and baby blue bottle caps
the smoke was so thick
that it made
everyone look
like ghosts
eep was fidgeting with
his glass sending it
hand to hand
peep talked to strangers
wearing scary masks
they were both a little lost
and both a little unconscious
and when introduced
thought to themselves
but didn’t say
“don’t I know you?”
they talked about grandmas,
chairs, picture books, and
Ace Hardware, and a lot of
things that don’t matter
much
suddenly it’s five in the morning
and all the guests have tapered off
to foreign bedrooms
for free love
but eep and peep
went for a hand-holding walk
through the landfills of the town
picking out the best of the worst
and building a home out of it
soon they had a kitchen
bathroom and ceiling
soon they had a baby
the days passed through nights
and the years gobbled down the days
until all that was left
were some photo albums
of a family found
in the attic of an empty house
and in these pictures were
the days of eep & peep
now long gone except
as quietly fading words
on the dry-erase board
we call life