Claire Apel<\/em><\/h4>\n <\/p>\n
I<\/p>\n
She tilts her head back, setting sun washing across the planes of her face<\/p>\n
She\u2019s riding the bus, listening to music, she\u2019s lonely and tired maybe<\/p>\n
The sun is setting and she wants to be home maybe<\/p>\n
Her music is loud something with drums…you could love her maybe<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
II<\/p>\n
On her tiptoes at the supermarket, nudging a box of cereal<\/p>\n
off the shelf with her fingertips<\/p>\n
She\u2019s washed in fluorescent light, stains on her shirt<\/p>\n
The workers know her; she\u2019s here all the time<\/p>\n
There is only coffee and soy sauce in her basket<\/p>\n
She could be sad<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
III<\/p>\n
She\u2019s at the bus stop and she could be waiting<\/p>\n
She\u2019s holding an iced coffee, sweating water and melting whipped cream<\/p>\n
Her boots are black leather, her skirt soft velvet, she\u2019s trying to look nice<\/p>\n
She could be going somewhere\u2013to class to the bookstore home<\/p>\n
A bus appears on the horizon and her shoulders relax<\/p>\n
She could be stressed<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
IV<\/p>\n
She\u2019s leafing through records in a dusty shop<\/p>\n
buffalo springsteen the cure led zeppelin joy division billy joel<\/p>\n
the replacements fleetwood mac the cranberries<\/p>\n
chicago the hollies the beatles the smiths new order<\/p>\n
Percussion, string, guitar, voice, note, pitch<\/p>\n
She buys three<\/p>\n
She could love the feeling it creates<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
V<\/p>\n
Alone in her kitchen stirring box mac and cheese,<\/p>\n
tossing salad, searing chicken and fish<\/p>\n
She pops popcorn and eats it with buttery fingers<\/p>\n
She makes coffee with cinnamon and spreads soft cheese on bread<\/p>\n
Drinks pink wine from a box on the counter<\/p>\n
She could be hungry for anything, something<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
VI<\/p>\n
She sleeps maybe sometimes<\/p>\n
Under a duvet patterned in bushes and trees<\/p>\n
Orange and blue arc sodium lights peeking through the window blinds<\/p>\n
Sounds of the city<\/p>\n
She dreams in blue tones of streets and alleys maybe<\/p>\n
Or the green countryside and a spotted dog<\/p>\n
Or another planet where everyone is purple<\/p>\n
When she wakes up she doesn\u2019t remember<\/p>\n
She could be looking for something<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
VII<\/p>\n
She reads maybe when she has time<\/p>\n
She haunts a spot behind the chapel<\/p>\n
where the stone steps are weathered and old<\/p>\n
They could remind her of something<\/p>\n
The end of the world<\/p>\n
The edge of the world<\/p>\n
She could be lonely<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
VIII<\/p>\n
She washes her clothes in a dusty laundromat<\/p>\n
Sunlight falls in chunks through dirty windows<\/p>\n
The clean smell of detergent is cloying and heavy<\/p>\n
Folds clothes on top of the washer, no creases, no wrinkles<\/p>\n
She could like order, organization, control<\/p>\n
She could be desperate for it<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
IX<\/p>\n
She sits in a park and watches the light move through the gaps<\/p>\n
in the leaves, dappled and soft<\/p>\n
She thinks of a song and calls herself sentimental<\/p>\n
She shivers when the wind blows because her tights are black and sheer<\/p>\n
A leaf presses against her ankle, whispers girl girl girl where are you<\/p>\n
She could be cold, inside, out<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
X<\/p>\n
She sits in the back of the movie theater alone<\/p>\n
Sees something popular and cries at the end because it made her sad<\/p>\n
Eats red licorice with steady precision and grit<\/p>\n
Drinks Coke the syrup thick and too sweet on her tongue<\/p>\n
She watches the shadows of lovers’ heads tilt together<\/p>\n
in the soft glow of the screen<\/p>\n
She could be jealous<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
XI<\/p>\n
In class she takes notes studiously head bent towards her laptop<\/p>\n
Her fingers are nimble and move too fast; she makes mistakes<\/p>\n
but she goes back to correct them<\/p>\n
The wind made her hair frizzy and she reaches up too many times to smooth it<\/p>\n
Her legs cross at the ankles, she rubs one nervously against the other<\/p>\n
The teacher drones on<\/p>\n
Her head dips, wilted flower, dying tree<\/p>\n
She could be bored<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
XII<\/p>\n
She\u2019s washing dishes, something slow playing in the background<\/p>\n
It\u2019s melancholy, something sweet in the dark of the kitchen<\/p>\n
The soap she\u2019s using could smell like orange or lemon<\/p>\n
Her hands are red and rough from the hot water and her back hurts; long day<\/p>\n
The song unfurls\u2026 i glow pink in the night in my roommmmm <\/em><\/p>\nShe could be blossoming<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
XIII<\/p>\n
She runs up to someone and hugs them.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a big hug, one where her feet lift off the ground and her head<\/p>\n
tucks in between their neck and shoulder<\/p>\n
and she clutches their back like she\u2019s drowning<\/p>\n
She\u2019s laughing, smiling, happy<\/p>\n
she’s touching their hair, face, hands like she needs to hold<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I missed you,\u201d she says, \u201cbut you\u2019re here now\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nClaire Apel<\/strong> is from Bridgewater, New Jersey, and is currently majoring in History with a minor in Cinema Studies. Her passions include writing, reading, listening to music and watching movies with close friends and family.<\/p>\nClaire wrote this poem for Professor Paul Blaney\u2019s creative writing class, a class that she found “creatively stimulating and personally fulfilling.” Professor Blaney selected this poem for inclusion in WHR<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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