“feathers” by Claire Stephens

you are the kind of people i watch go by but this time you actually cared to look back.

i’ve always associated people with colors but you are red and green and orange and purple and so bright that you flicker and I just can’t take my eyes off you.

as my high school friends drift away like icebergs melting in my hot hands, i can’t help but wish i could be closer with you.

i’m scared our promises will fade and i’ll walk by your street just to see you from afar.

you are honeycomb and you stick between my teeth. you make me want to be better. even though i burn.

i watch you draw and doodle and carve and curl hair and do make-up and drink and dance and you make me feel alive.

i see you criticize your figure in the mirror but my lips and my mind whisper beautiful. bubbles that sneak between my lips. the kind of beauty that i could say it over and over and you’d never realize the truth. freckles and flickers in your irises.

i like watching you lay across the carpet, fur tickling your nose. the way you flutter and chirp like birds and i try to keep up but i feel like a pigeon compared to your vibrant feathers and dainty steps. heavy and awkward and wobbly as you prance.

Claire Stephens likes to write stories and poetry sometimes. She hopes to publish her own book in the future and maybe be a screenwriter.