a normal day

Dark purple creeps into the black of night
when I first pry my sleep-filled eyes open 
wishing I could remain within my warm cocoon of blankets
one second longer.
My head pounding with fatigue,
I arise
shivering as I throw off my quilt.

Standing at my bus stop
an hour later
the sky is a grayish blue
fog blurring the world like a cloak.
The autumn chill sinks into my bones
even under my warm coat.
Perhaps it will rain soon.

Sitting in Spanish,
second period,
it finally arrives
rain pounding on the roof of the school
drowning out the teacher's words
as I stare at it, mesmerized
droplets pouring from an angry sky.

By lunchtime,
the rain is gone
and the sky
is a vast, endless blue.
My friends and I stand
on the field outside of the school
sweaters abandoned in the warm air
white puffy clouds sailing high above us.

At three o'clock in the afternoon
I wait for the bus once again
the sky stormy once again
as rain pounds down once again.
I pull my sweater tight around me
as my friends lament the terrible weather
while I secretly enjoy it.

Hours later,
the sky is a pitch black
and I'm lying in bed reading,
Spotify music playing softly
on my computer.
I stare up at the stars
tiny pinpricks of light against a canvas of black.
It gets dark so early these days.
I pull my quilt over me
and close my eyes
trying not to drift off, then letting myself fade away
music and sudden rain
my serenade.
 

star

NH

14 years old

More by star

  • Song lyrics & you

    You're laying siege on me

    with your dimples and your crooked teeth

    with your hair, wet from the shower

    with the way your voice sounds when you're speaking Italian

    with the way you make me feel, both like crushed gravel

  • Good news

    I don't want the cold hallways,

    their chill seeping underneath 

    my thin regulation gown and settling in my bones.

    I don't want the nurses,

    with their tight, sympathetic smiles

  • Us

    I cling to the rollicking waves of our tumultuous friendship before they slip from my grasp, white-knuckled fingers and tangled legs praying not to be tossed astray by the unforgiving current.