Glass
She is glass.
Skin clear as a cloudless sky,
no rainy red spots on her cheeks—
She needn’t cry for weeks. Not in front of me.
Like a child standing open-mouthed outside a toy shop,
peering through the window, bottom to top, scanning every aisle;
only my eye is on the pane nailed in the frame,
the flowerless vase. A step closer
and all I see is myself.
She crouches in the curves of the rim,
stretched thin. Come out, come out.
If only she were iron, obsidian. No, brass.
Then our bodies could blend on that fragile frame,
mine heightened, hers widened.
Come out, come out.
A peek from the corner, the bat of a lash—anything to clash our roaming gazes.
But, alas, I must turn away, mustn’t waste my day
over a girl who’s only glass.
About the Author:
Katie Nelson is the author of a full-length fantasy novel and a short story collection entitled, Parties All Around. Her works have been recognized by Pigeon Review and the Bridport Prize. Katie is currently a senior in high school with intentions of studying creative writing in college.