by Elizabeth, Grade 12
if you could only see,
i’m fading like september,
you can watch me in the dark reflection of my window at midnight or later,
half eaten meal on the kitchen counter.
yours is in the fridge, by the way.
tears that fall on my pillow are useless,
they are frost on the window by morning.
running in the rain? you say.
you’re only going to catch a cold, my love.
I wish you could see how I looked before,
surrounded by golden light, in the brilliant morning,
no fog clouding my eyes, no endless lapses in memory.
we never watch the sunset anymore
I sit in the window seat and wait for you to come home,
but by then, the shadows stretch across your face,
and it’s too dark for you to recognize me
they cut down the almond trees in front of our house,
a brown stump remains where we could have carved our names.
you only say, it would have fallen, anyways.
the kids will come by on halloween
saying, that’s the haunted house, where the old couple lives.
I heard her ghost is still in there,
trapped by the window.
sometimes she screams,
but don’t be scared,
it’s only because she’s lonely.