Birthday Boys

A scrapbook/journal page that includes doodles, a photograph, and preserved plants.

Meghan Gilmore

Unpublished

English

Japanese

scrapbook

paper, Instax film

BIRTHDAY BOYS
Jonah and AJ were born less than 24 hour apart;
Jonah has the same birthday as my grandma and
his brother was born the day after and AJ has
the same birthday as my uncle mark so really
it's one round we follow. After today this will be
the longest I've spent in tallahassee for a spring
semester. it's 80 degrees and I'm housesitting
from the completely agreeable vantage of
aj's back porch, hunching over the glare of
se white pages and lamenting my inevitable
return to the AC to finish homework I ought
ave been doing instead of and
ching videos with my now 20-year-old
y friend. I'll finish my work all the same,
though; no harm, no foul. I am incredibly
happy.

3.16.21　　　　　　　it turns out that we left last year days before campus
ピンク　　ね？ went into full bloom; it kind of hurts to see it, casually.
fuck, y'know? I had to leave right before this season,
this miracle, could've done more to fix me than
Kentucky could even think to offer. I feel kind of
robbed. I feel angry. I took a walk today and I
wanted to cry more than I expected- that
amount, of course, being none. it's petty, hateful; a deeply unproductive feeling, to rue
the beauty you think yourself owed. I've been at peace with 2020 for a pretty
long chunk of time now, but I can't help feel now like I've been pulled forward
in time, like I never left last year, like time is lurching and stalling as it finally
catches up to me. I had such intense deja vú in class today that I had to suck
in a breath to bear it. I had to schedule my classes keeping in mind they'd be in
person. I got my first dose of a covid vaccine today. there is time lost that
I may never stop feeling owed; it's unfair to us all. time is catching up and I am
somehow, after all of this time, unprepared.

In the top left corner of the page a photograph of of two young men smiling at the camera is taped. Pink seeds and a stem producing two leaves are layered above it haphazardly.
The text "BIRTHDAY BOYS" is written in green, and the Y is smudged.
In between the two sections of text a collection of pink flower doodles and dots make up a barrier. The text ピンク　ね？is written in pink bubble text.
At the bottom of the page several flowers are taped into the blank space, including clover.

11/19/21