Do you remember
When we were more
Than near-strangers
Wilfully ignoring each other?
Do you remember when you first met me?
By chance, in the corridors. Chitchat to interest, to
Do you remember 20 minutes
Of break time, freedom?
Do you remember when we sat down
Together, on that sofa with scents
Of crumbled cookies and spilled juice?
That sofa with the residue of sweat
And cuts smaller than a bee's brain.
Where we were immune to the sting
Of the divide, the hierarchy of the hive
Do you remember 20 minutes
Over and over again?
Until minutes turn into hours
And hours into weeks?
Do you remember your birthday party?
The cinema seats that stank of stale popcorn
Of spilled coke left for ants to devour.
Do you remember the restaurant
With soft seats, and the invulnerability
Of my silence, while your real friends
Taking selfies with their iPhone 6's
Talked freely, dropped their fries
I asked if I could eat it under the five second rule.
It was better to remain silent.
Do you remember how
Little by little, we grew apart
Like the cuts in the sofa
Were slowly nagged at
Turned to scars?
And the ants and bees came
And took the stuffing away.
Back to their hives and nests
Where they talked freely and spilled their honey.
Do you remember when you were more
Than someone who sits next to me in Spanish?
Well that time's gone. Spray your room for insects
Do you want an infestation in your closet?
We're just stains on each other now—
Leave the spilt milk to the ants.
YOU ARE READING
Anarchy
PoetryAnarchy. A swirl of topics: emotions, allusions to history, social issues... And somewhere in the maelstrom comes forth rhymes and prose. Note: If you can't be bothered to read all the poems (quite understandably), I've starred the better ones.
