by Katherine Xiao
Issue: Aphelion (Spring 2016)
I said:
“Today I—”
But before I could even finish,
They said:
“Today I heard that
Ella, that girl with ashen hair
who swept and mopped all day
Just danced with the prince.
Oh
what a beautiful tale.”
I said:
“Did you know that—”
But before I could even finish,
They said:
“Did you know that Romeo died
Believing Juliet to have died.
And Juliet ended her own life
Seeing Romeo end his own,
Oh
what a tragic tale.”
I said:
“I dream of—”
But before I could even finish,
They were gone.
Still telling stories of princesses and knights and heroes and gods.
Lost in fantastical worlds that were not their own.
So I gazed up at the sky and
I said:
“Today I
Saw the most extraordinary sight.
A star twinkled at me, and a hummingbird kissed a flower,
Did you know that
When flowers bloom
They sing and swirl into rings of fragrance and color?
I dream of
A world where lions waltz with lambs
And a rainbow radiates both rain or shine—
A constant in the sky.
But alas, my story lay trampled
Crumpled by time and untouched hands
Buried beneath mountains of stories
fawned over.