The World Burns and So Do We
By Lauren P.
Indecipherable
The world is burning so meet me
at Barnes & Noble, where we’ll lose
and then find each other again,
as is our way across lifetimes.
Listen for the rustle of pages—
Fantasy, Fiction, Romance…
I’m not far. After your journey
I’ll use a dead man’s life’s work
to fan you off. Sweat beads
roll like heads; our story’s
gonna piss some people off.
Always has, always will.
Indecipherable to anyone
who isn’t us, my love—
no glamour, no resolve,
no ending.
pool nights
pool nights were a secret,
wrapped up tight like
preteen bodies in
hot pink beach towels,
tiptoeing across a
starlit patio and into
water no one knew
was ours
we’d discard our suits
on the concrete ledge
and become
bodies in water
bodies of water
not students
not cross country runners
not even girls, but
the most ridiculous
mermaids
you’ve never seen,
pretending not to
observe each other’s
freely flickering tails
in the hallways we’d
exchange sly smiles,
newly aware of
all we possessed
beneath our clothing—
not yet for a soul
except ourselves,
each other, and that
electric blue
Lauren P. (she/her) is a Michigan-based poet, mother, and late-identified autistic woman. Other small, heartfelt writings live and breathe on her Substack, All That I Am Not.
Photo credit – Vanessa King
