“A Letter To All The Boys I Want To Bring Home” by Maddie Agne

Barefoot?

Yes, that’s the way

Barefoot, really?

Yes— everywhere

There are these horrible conversations

I imagine

with you

When you finally come home with me

And you see the horrible calluses on my feet

And walk barefoot on summer asphalt

And sit in all that yellow

And watch my freckles bloom

We’ll go down to the river

to pray

Well, I’ll pray

you’ll admire

And forget the heat

so native to my body

It seems no wonder

I was born here

            in all of it

You’ll watch me migrate

like a bird

unsure of which way is home

unsure of where to lay her nest

I’ll dig up old roots

carefully, politically

            attempting for peace

Waiting until I can bury them

And return to my freshly planted roots

            with you

And you’ll ask me

            Barefoot— really?

Because it’s so damn hot

and it beats at your back

            like you’d imagine a whip

and how do you stand it?

is there any water?

and do you want to stay here?

is this why you pray?

where will you roost?

on the asphalt?

no? just tea?

And I’ll answer

calmly

            Yes, barefoot— everywhere

Maddie Agne is a Junior at UM and a former LSWA Student Assistant.  She's a poet and Creative Writing major hailing from Chattanooga, Tennessee, and hopes her (admittedly) teenage-rage poetry will reach readers of As We Are.