ode to the girl in my homeroom who only speaks french

she came up behind me one day & tapped me on the shoulder

i spun on my heel, unsteady, a dumb american consistently

ashamed of my language

she pointed at my face and drew a heart in the air with her thumbs

beautiful she said in her jam-thick accent far sweeter

than my own and she smiled with her teeth and i felt

my cheeks flush with a grin and that is ultimately

the best compliment i will ever receive, from someone

i can't say a word to otherwise,

and isn't that just about the saddest beautiful thing?

image of green lilac bushes with white lilac flowers standing against a bright blue sky

OverTheRainbow

VT

12 years old

More by OverTheRainbow

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  • Poetry

    By OverTheRainbow

    FIRST SNOW

    ugh it's raining again,

    i text my best friend when i wake up & look out the window

    onto an already gray & gloomy world.

    rain rain rain rain rain rain rainy november like all 

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  • Nonfiction

    By OverTheRainbow

    november

    It's cold here, I reply to my grandparents when they ask how our week's going. It's cold, and wet, and already I am helping my friends put up Christmas decorations and string LEDs across their rooms, playing holiday music to try

    Read More