Love Her Wild

by Atticus

  each day is the same

  you do what brings you peace—

  and the wildest part of it all

  is the island is real

  my toes are in its sand.

  I woke up

  from the daydream

  of my twenties

  in a cold sweat,

  anxious for

  all the lives

  I hadn’t lived.

  We leave behind our unicorns—

  the ones that get away—

  but they’re never fully gone,

  they will always be there,

  roaming

  in the grassy fields of our soul.

  In life

  I plan to keep going,

  till everyone’s left,

  the band has gone home,

  the cleaners have cleaned,

  and it’s just me and an old friend

  daring each other to steal things.

  OUR

  SONGS

  LIVE

  LONGER

  THAN

  OUR

  KINGDOMS.

  I hope to arrive at my death

  late,

  in love,

  and a little drunk.

  What of the firefly,

  the one I love to chase?

  The old man smiled

  Love her

  he said

  but leave her wild,

  and the old oak tree I love to climb?

  Love her, he said, but leave her wild

  the bird that sings that song I love?

  Love her, he said, but leave her wild

  and the wolf that cries to the old joke moon?

  Love her, he said, but leave her wild

  and the horse that loves to run with storms?

  Love her, he said, but leave her wild.

  And what of her,

  the one I love most?

  And the old man smiled.

  Yes, he said,

  you must love her too

  but love her wild

  and she’ll love you.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thanks to:

  Penni Thow

  Sarah Cantin

  Andrea Barzvi

  Dave Lingwood

  Karlie Kloss

  Shay Mitchel

  Kaitlyn Bristowe

  Spencer Roehre

  Joey Parris

  Andrew Lutfala

  Monarch Publishing

  Lindsay O’Connell

  Callum Gunn

  Ben Nemtin

  Jonathan Penn

  Jessica Severn

  Marissa Daues

  Bryan Adam Castillo

  The city of Paris

  The city of Oxford

  Mom, dad, brothers, and sisters.

  Everyone at Atria Books and Simon & Schuster:

  Emma Van Deun

  Albert Tang

  Amy Trombat

  Lisa Sciambra

  Jackie Jou

  Suzanne Donahue

  Lisa Keim

  Judith Curr

  I owe a large debt to many writers who have come before me. In particular, the poem on page 53 was inspired by a favorite Hunter S. Thompson quote: “One of God’s own prototypes. . . . Too weird to live, and too rare to die.” I’ve always loved the idea of being “too rare to die”—it’s a theme that reappears often in my work—and in this poem, I tried to reimagine Thompson’s original meaning.

  csterpuayotti.mco/rctssee

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ATTICUS is a storyteller and observer. Born on the West Coast, he’s spent much of his life exploring the world but now calls California his home. He loves the ocean, the desert, and playing with words. Visit him on Instagram @atticuspoetry.

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  Copyright © 2017 by Atticus Publishing, LLC

  Photographs by Bryan Adam Castillo Photography, Callum Gunn, Poppet Penn, or released under Creative Commons Zero license.

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  First Atria Books hardcover edition July 2017

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  Interior design by Amy Trombat

  Cover photograph by Bryan Castillo

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

  ISBN 978-1-5011-7668-5

  ISBN 978-1-5011-7125-3 (ebook)