See You In The Morning

See You In the Morning is the title of two books (so far), one of poems by Kenneth Patchen and also this one, which is about leaving home when it’s really hard to do. “See you in the morning,” said Jim Woodring in his introduction to Patchen’s book, “is a tender, pathetic genius of hope.” Tender and pathetic because, what if nobody's left in the morning? What if we lose more than we gain when we leave?
 
This See You In the Morning is about three seventeen-year-olds, Rosie, John, and the narrator, who take care of each other one summer in a small Midwestern town. Rosie is a mystic romantic whose dad earned so much money writing screenplays that she doesn’t need an afterschool job. John, Rosie’s ex, works at the roller rink in a rabbit costume and takes care of his mom when she's tired after a day cutting hair. The narrator works at a bookstore and sometimes focuses so hard on their reading that they see polka dots take over the room. They are heartsick over John, because John is their best and oldest friend so the two must be in love, right? Because if they aren’t, why stay? But if they aren't, who else will ever understand?
 
The story unfolds in paragraph poems, shifting like faultlines or candy bars caught in a vending machine. There are religious experiences in churches and at house shows, neverending afternoons in classrooms and diner booths, awkwardness with neighbors and driving instructors. “When I think about where I live after school,” the narrator tells John, “I can’t see anything but not here. And I don’t watch movies with anybody else so I want you to come. That feels weird but I feel weirder not telling you.” See You in the Morning is a first book about knowing you’re different before knowing how you want to love, or leave, and time hearts brains and God, and music and hope.