Popcorn

sing to me.

i've been a stranger once more

to your hills and valleys, to the

gaps of sunlight between your grasping evergreens.

i've been a stranger

to the red barn

Verse 1
The sun sets slow on this fading day,
I see your faces, but they feel far away.
Laughter lingers in the hollow air,
But something’s shifting like you’re not really there.

she walks into the room like a sentence that forgot to whisper

light brown hair pulled back in a way that says she didn’t try

but still somehow gets it right

clear glasses catching the light

it was my hoodie

old and wrinkled

stuffed in the back of my locker

half folded half forgotten

like most of my things

lately i miss owls

the mountains grumble and grow, pushing up around pumpkin shards and lost dreams

who i want to be

who i’m becoming

i feel like a dusty yellow pear

it won't be flashy, showy, or

even remotely special to the untrained eye

but those who've suffered the burden of 

knowing me will understand why

my next trick is magical.

from the seventh grader who