Longing

It’s a ball of knotted string

Stuck under my ribcage.

Whenever I start to untangle it,

I break a sweat & forget

Why I even tried. 

It’s thirst after a tall glass

Of water, aching, curling

Around my neck like a vise. 

It’s the damp

Lingering in a spring day, 

Eyes that could hold an ocean

But that never look into mine. 

It’s wild, honeyed laughter that 

I chase around the corner, only to find

There was

Nothing 

There. 

star

NH

15 years old

More by star

  • figures of the night

    we sat and imagined fireflies

    flitting between the tops of the RVs

    as the sun disappeared into muggy,

    illicit sludge. we realized we both liked

     the sticky-sweet taste of summer

  • The sun

    you're not

    leaving yet. no,

    i'll glue your limbs to the pavement,

    lower your waving hand,

    tell you

    something to make your eyes crinkle

    again.

    again,

    again,

    again.

  • Curl Cream

    I have been told

    To put curl cream in my hair

    Upside down, eyes 

    Straining against the ceiling light,

    Curls straining toward the tile floor,

    Bunching.

    I will smell