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Blue Marble Review

Literary Journal for Young Writers

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Words for Feelings We Can’t Describe *

By Katrin Flores

Ruckkehrunruhe

 

I forgot

how the hot, sticky wind of

a hundred passing metro buses and jeepneys

felt on the shins–

the pleasant aching of feet

at the edge of a crosswalk–

when my legs were swept up

by the velvet lining

of a living room recliner.

 

I lost

the New Orleans roar–

the steam of a fresh jambalaya

and greasy oyster po’boys–

caught in the fibers of a shirt

when I stuck it in the washer

with a cup of

mountain fresh

 

And all the morsels of

the world I’ve captured in

a photograph

fade each time

I scroll past it in a

two-thousand memory

digital photo album

 

ruckkenrunruhe-  n. the feeling of returning home after an immersive trip only to find it fading rapidly from your awareness

 

 

 

Monachopsis

 

The garden holds like

the surface of water

until the gate swings open

and I,

with the careful smack of

yellow flip flops against

stepping stones,

arrive in New Gethsemane

 

But the crabapple tree

whispers to the bitter gourd

the mustard greens

the cherry tomatoes

the chickweeds

and with a thin, spotted finger

points

 

I cannot be the ant

on the ochre fence

with them–

only a thoroughbred

among them

 

monachopsis- n. the subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place

 

Katrin Flores, a student in the School for the Creative and Performing Arts program, is a junior at Lafayette High School. Besides writing, she is passionate about Jesus, hoards lipstick, plays the violin, and occasionally writes on gum wrappers when she’s desperate.

 

*poetry inspired by The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows*
www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com

Filed Under: Poetry Tagged With: Winter Poems 2017

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