Possibilities in a Pane of Glass
Did you ever
Notice how bus
Windows are just a little too
High to see out of
It could be an attempt to make
Shorter
People uncomfortable or it
Could be to always keep you on your edge or
Or maybe it’s on
Purpose to
Draw attention to the
Sky
And if that’s the goal than it’s working ‘cause the
Sky is beautiful right now with the dark grey clouds
And the bright colorless sky and all the possibilities just
Presented to you no hiding now just
Be.
Speechless
There was a girl who had everything
She could talk and laugh and make others laugh.
One day someone stole her voice and hid
It in her shadow.
She was stuck with the taste of honey,
And the soft ssss of her last word floating in the air.
When she spoke the next word,
Silence fell out and clanged to the floor
So loudly the whole class turned
To stare and they could say
Anything
And did.
She tried again and more
Silence
Fell out.
Can’t Stop Now
Crumpling the edge of the
Page in my nervous hand rolling the corner back
And forth and back and forth and—and—and
Gazing at the cold printed words until they became just
Words emptied of meaning and staring some more until they
Blurred and the last person just finished
I’m next so not even
Hearing her and still sitting and still frozen and still
— Next? —
And then rising on legs that don’t realize their
Job is to be steady and refocusing my
Eyes and the words appear and they gain meaning
Again and I open my mouth and sound comes out and it’s
Covered in rust but I keep going can’t stop now can’t stop
And
Everyone’s quiet and their faces are tilted up like flowers to the sun like moths to the light
Looking at
Me
And they are expecting something and I don’t know what they are
Thinking but can’t stop now can’t stop so
The words roll out of my mouth and I’m
Choking on them the faces tilted toward me look
Confused.
October Snow
This weekend it snowed and
Snowed and
Snowed and it was only October. I
Had tests and labs and homework due Monday so I
Stayed inside the whole weekend, sitting
In front of my computer gazing
Blankly at the screen.
Time passed in short jerks
Sometimes inching slowly
i could count to ten faster than the clock meandered over to two
Then speeding past so quickly
all I could do was hold on to
time’s ankles and be pulled along.
I missed the snow. I would look over to see the flakes falling past my window
Dusting the ground and sticking lightly to
Cars and trees and anything in its way
The snow was gone by
Monday mourning. Except
For one car that
Hadn’t moved and was still covered with a thick layer of
Snow. I dipped my hands into it
Crunched it into a ball. Threw it at
The ground:
Plop.
On the bus I
Looked out the misty window
Along the park most cars had snow piled on their roofs
The trees were full of it
Snow wedged in between the branches and balanced on leaves.