I Wandered

[tallonrk1]

Daffodils just wave in the breeze—
They do not dance.
And I want to tell Wordsworth this
But I’ve never paid much attention to daffodils
so this is speculation as well.

I do that often:
make statements without conclusive evidence,
like— God exists— or—
it’s cold outside— or—

you do not want me near you.
I find your shoe
in every staircase I walk down.

No one looks up when walking.
We stare at the snow-dusted sidewalk
and hope that cars take pity
and yield their power to our paper skin.

They could break us so easily.
Metal is stronger than bone.

I know you do this too—
stop at a puddle in the street
to see your reflection,

And I wonder if you’ve ever stopped
to gaze at the couple walking down the sidewalk—
arms wrapped around shoulders—
shoulders pulled to breastbones—
and they look at each other.

I have.
I have stepped on every sidewalk
I thought we would walk.
I have marked every patch of grass
I thought we would lie down on.

I have danced—
to every song I thought we would kiss to—
and again we return to pathetic fallacy—

lying in bed for fifteen hours,
I become more inanimate than real.
But even in the dark,
I can see my face in my phone screen.

This bliss of solitude.

I have seen every car and every puddle
reflected on my phone,

Narcissus—
****ty daffodil—