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Blue Marble Review

Literary Journal for Young Writers

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Girl and City: A Love Affair

By Shelby Edison

I once wrote and believed

that Madrid was the Paris

of Spain

until I stepped foot in

Seville

where the pavement is a collection of

marigolds.

Ice cream scoops are served in glass

goblets and coat my fingertips in

milky crystals.

I photograph a red carnation

in a jar

on the table of a café overlooking

the cathedral.

And it starts to drizzle.

I stomp in storm puddles,

dance in the plains

(where it mainly rains in Spain.)

The sun isn’t out and

it’s far too cold but

look!

A city bathed in silver.

Algae swimming in a fountain while

I snack on

star shaped marzipan

staring at the palm trees,

that tickle sunbeams

which shine into the water.

Dazzle stone walls and brick walkways,

give a dandelion the light to grow,

create melancholy masterpieces and lonely frescos

that become caught in thunderstorms.

But the sun always clears and I find myself in

an orange grove.

Have you ever stood in an orange

grove?

The air is citrus flavored and

the world is tinted

tangerine.

If the day is particularly friendly,

maybe a bumblebee

will buzz by me.

Sing a song in my ear like it’s playing

a tiny flute.

Maybe the bee will take a paintbrush

and decorate the pumpkin sky with

amber spirals.

Is it ordinary to feel nostalgic
for a place you stood in for a

mere five minutes?

I am eternally nostalgic

for constellations and

arched doorways crowned with bougainvillea.

For cats that perch on rooftops

overlooking Spanish cities

and ponds fenced in with topiary,

standing against faded brick walls.

I am nostalgic for my love affair

with the city of Seville.

The tapas eaten in cramped cafes

paired with bursts of winter air

travelling alongside olives and

glasses of red wine.

Tender octopus and cuttlefish croquettes

resting on my tongue.

Spain

like the pond in the corner of a palace,

sitting with

a few hundred handfuls of herbs.

I stroll in manicured gardens

under lavender skies

and pretend the world was simpler.

An orange grove.

A carnation.

A dash of saffron.

 

 

 

Shelby Edison is a writer and student at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas. Her poetry has previously been published in Teen Ink. When she is not writing, she can be found with her nose stuck in a piece of classic literature.

Filed Under: Poetry Tagged With: Issue Fourteen

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