Real Boy

My fiancee calls me Pinocchio.

And we laugh
because we both know the story.

I lit a fire.
I made the whale sneeze,
but somehow got snagged on a tooth.

They say that a boy
needs to roll in the ashes
before he can be a man.

I’m still finding soot in pleats
and embers in breast pockets.

Sometimes when I speak to people
I get nervous.

Nervous of judgement,
of being inadequate.

But then I notice a trail
of dust behind them
and I know
I’m not alone.

more by LUCAS HOWARD

Photograph by Sara Cimino