Four poems by Jamie Paradis ’20 have been accepted for publication in the esteemed literary magazine Hanging Loose. They will be printed in an upcoming issue. Congratulations, Jamie!
I can’t see in this fog but it’s okay for now
I think about those days of wandering in the dark,
wondering when the cement dried forever
dim but ever present streetlights piercing our vision
why don’t we lose track of time as you
give me your heart and mind
whisper your fears warm against my glass
we’re all colorblind but drag queens
dancers but murderers
I crave your smiles like candy and whiskey and traffic jam love
I want everything at this intensity, I’m only 17
the purple mist in my mind feels like
soothing music traveling through my ears
I push the sky away from my weighed down shoulders
and feel lighter, softer, forgiven
the things we miss we love
I crave the slippery
satin sheets
that smell like your conditioner
11 pm day dreams bring me
to last fall,
crunching red and yellow
tie-dyed apples,
the sun stares ominously
at the mushy “ground apples”, rotting
I imagine us standing, four feet in a row
skin touching skin
my eyes on your missing button
your eyes on the fogged sky
you skip stones
across shattering glass
I pray that you’re showing off
(you’ve impressed me for a long
time, darling)
I crave pillowcases filled with
pillows filled with
puffin feathers,
I wake
from a nightmare
delighted, you’re still there
10/1/19
it’s October now which means pumpkin flavored kisses, I guess
appletinis (so cosmopolitan) with rainbow fruit skewers dancing on top
I feel the falling leaves swirl around me
and the dusts and poisons that I can’t help but inhale
let’s dance after moonrise as the world goes to sleep
we can salsa or waltz atop crunchy dead leaves
and see each other in yellow blue hues that only come out at night
let’s forget about things we must do
and grow up instantaneously
orange and red and brown glitter paint my skin
and I remember that there’s so much time left,
we’re still in summer in our hearts
and spring still swirls in our minds
and winter will come when it comes
winter will come.
flower girl
I hold her hand so tight
as we push through the
meadow of flowers
patches of sunlight
gild her hair
we sit on a hill of dirt and pebbles
and broken beer bottles
I tell her three secrets
and two wishes
and she tells me her
real name
I trace my initials
in the dirt
then bleed as
I skin the glass
she kisses it
like mom would
and I wish
he were here to kiss me
instead she
braids my hair
with flowers
tucked between strands
and promises I’ll
be okay, I’ll be okay,
close my eyes
and dream