April 15th

who doesn't try
to run away except those
on small islands where
water is the only running
and huntsman spiders tickling
the backs of doors discourage packing
the old fruit from the basement

there was that boy who didn't get an xbox
and shoveled his fat face into nature,
and the boy who was too young
to apply for survival school
and trekked Ohio
as a letter of recommendation

if they left together: boy one, xboxless
and boy two, clever enough
to be full of tender dinner
he didn't pack soap, which is all right because
fat is young tallow,
teaching himself how to skin
and gut the gutless

when I was that young and alive and scared
I had a list

1. water and
2. a watermelon

but I think I'd spit the seeds at deer
and wear the rind as a hat