Living It

She walks, strangled in it: 

those white paneled houses

white cars, white fence

sterile and orderly,

but beating down on her

summer sun sweltering a sickly tan.

she imagines picking off every daffodil

stems remaining– an orderly graveyard

bulb still trapped beneath the skeleton

It sits in her eyes:

murky gray

like a fog overlapping

that fat she picked at

on her dinner plate

soft fishy flesh, scent lingering

covering the neighborhood.

she sees the waters,

devoid of chaotic movement

no more waves

still

It becomes her mission:

cover-up, combat,

black leather zip

a silver-studded jacket

screaming her name

the song blaring 

voice in unison, flashing royal purple

in a corner with a stranger

It starts appearing:

stretches and scars,

plumped and uneven,

browned like an overripe fruit

dried up, itching, flaking away–

flashes of red

she looks down, eyes burning still

blood seeping through the concrete cracks

And it breaks.

cerulean fireworks

blood splattered tiles

aquamarine 

chlorine

the scene

at thirteen

forever

unclean 

Eleanor Dragonetti, Grade 12

Creative Writing Major

*Eleanor won the Poetry Slam for the 25-26 School Year with her performance of "Living It"