To Declare

we fish
for cherries
with white bic lighters
clink glasses on stolen
rooftops and who really
can remember the names
of all those they have loved?
Our parents tried to do right
by us while living in the shadow
of their unbound youth
and in exchange we grow
bags under our eyes
like rings around rings
inside tree trunks, meaning
to declare:
“we will only add
to your history.”