A Fly Like a Lily
Like, how they’re the same thing if you look slowly
Like, look at the way they move
Like, I’m looking at the way they move
But-
It doesn’t matter because it’s like one of those days where
The god you said you don’t believe in is crying
Like, ashes falling.
They burn, you think
They’re not supposed to burn, you think
How– the water descends like a symphony
How– the notes are higher and stronger and create these shapes that
Vibrate against your body
And– the water falls and looks so beautiful as it envelops a fly
Until it stops
Squirming
And lies defeated on the
Wet rock
It was born on
As– the droplets compose themselves against the wind and move up and against the sky
The insect that was once so many things
Is not anymore.
In the distance I see moist soil
And when I see moist soil I see my potential
And how the rain, it’s my life, and how with all its movements it creates something that is gone by sunlight
And–
Can’t I just collect some of the rain as it dances, so, maybe
I could show it to you sometime?
And
I hope the lilies won’t grow too fast so that they outshine me
Their
Soft petals are softer than I am and
Their
Color is more vibrant than I could ever even try to be
And
The water is beauty and it never stops running and I think that maybe if
I could finish first
I could be as lovely as something that is
Translucent.
——————————————————————————-
The sun is gasping its colors
As it crouches up and around the horizon
Your movement is Beethoven’s symphony.
Moving so graciously throughout the air-
Moving the air
Moving it so there is room for what you hold within you
And may come out anytime,
Please, come out anytime.
Make it come out like lava and burn me in it and make me so burned and unattractive that my modesty makes me beautiful.
Send me letters- send me letters with the words carved in rose petals
And
I’ll kiss the tips of your toes
And put the grime I find under your foot in my
Pocket so,
For ever and ever and ever I’ll have what once made you less radiant
So, maybe the thing inside it will leave with it.
I want each and every memory to be folded up like a letter
And let me put all the letters in a folder that will sit on the mantle in my
Future living room
Thick black weeds combed back, revealing hair plugs, is you in thirty years
But it’s okay because by then I, too, will have broken bones and saggy skin and together
We can bask in the inevitable conquering of time and how it
Will grip you like the moon does when you see it bright and lit and so proud
In the night sky
Shining, like its spite makes it more human
Like, something can be more human,
Like, maybe we’re not human,
I love you so simply.
Sparrow
A car that’s getting rained on so hard it looks like its crying
It isn’t new enough to drive on auto-pilot
You need to press the pedal down, the old fashioned way
Me, the car that you argue isn’t really a car because it has no engine
Gin. It has a lot of gin stored in the back-seat, I say
But you, you, the lump in my throat that doesn’t leave
Even when I swallow
Swallow
You were once a swallow and I was once your nest and you built me out of
Scraps that you found along an alley- nestled yourself into them
Them- you nestled yourself into the orange peel, not realizing it was an orange peel
I remember when I told you, “the sun is drowning- don’t you see?”
And I remember you saying (speaking to the candy-wrappers that are my eyes), “why don’t you go save it?”
Save- save- savings
You said you wanted to combine both of your nests- the one in New York City and the One in LA
Merge your savings
You are nothing without saving
I am so much without saving
Your hair- it’s not blonde anymore
And me- I’ve never known a sparrow for this long
And you- you’ve known nests for so much longer but I don’t care because the scraps you made me out of are no longer scraps, now they’re art, and I’m hanging from a string in the MoMa Museum
In the entrance hall, right in front of the
Picasso prints.
Tatiana Dubin
Age 16, Grade 10,
Hewitt School
Silver Key