Embedded Files
noun: the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own
Food Immortalizer.
Unlit bar. Blooming black umbrellas preserve perfection of stale fries and ketchup bottles atop the pool table. Say: “cheese.”
Street Personality.
A crowd instructed to move in closer: “We’re only four black guys; we can’t hurt all of you.” Backflips part the sea of briefcases and carry-ons. Cash in hats.
Tour Tutor.
Once, a kid asked me, on the burial ground of tragedy, “What’s with all the dinosaur bones?” … It’s The Oculus.
Ice Stumbler.
Seventy-degree warmth, parading ring of shufflers on slush, traffic cone coat loses footing, tumbling the nearest unsuspecting.
Trash Curator.
Bin dragged across the square, rubbish transferred bag to bag, hand by hand. Resurrecting limp sunflowers, cradling their yellow.
Pretender.
Stiletto struts off the subway line, slicing through native yorkers. Authority obscures fraudulence; I’m a good pretender. Won’t you come see my show?
Winter 2022
Written by Jessica Wyeth.
Jessica Wyeth studies Politics at Catholic University (class of 2023). Wyeth serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Vermilion. She has previously been published in Vermilion.
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