Gemma Collins (14)
Evening Porch Swinging
I always wondered why my next-door neighbor swung on her porch each evening at 8.
Why this fuzzy black bee hung around the rosemary bushes
even though they provided no pollen.
Why the third wooden floorboard in my hallway dipped just so.
I didn’t approach her, for fear her wiry gray hair would poke me as I tiptoed up her stairs to ask
a simple question.
A sprig of rosemary,
Laden with stingers
I may never know this happy bee.
A cart, perhaps, my mother said.
That tipped the planks of Mary’s floor
Before it was our own.
Tomorrow at 8 I think I will ask.
Gemma Collins is a sophomore at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco. She is a member of her school’s writing department, where she enjoys writing poetry and prose. In her free time, Gemma plays with her pet cat, swims at the beach, and makes many trips to Target.
Evening Porch Swinging
I always wondered why my next-door neighbor swung on her porch each evening at 8.
Why this fuzzy black bee hung around the rosemary bushes
even though they provided no pollen.
Why the third wooden floorboard in my hallway dipped just so.
I didn’t approach her, for fear her wiry gray hair would poke me as I tiptoed up her stairs to ask
a simple question.
A sprig of rosemary,
Laden with stingers
I may never know this happy bee.
A cart, perhaps, my mother said.
That tipped the planks of Mary’s floor
Before it was our own.
Tomorrow at 8 I think I will ask.
Gemma Collins is a sophomore at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco. She is a member of her school’s writing department, where she enjoys writing poetry and prose. In her free time, Gemma plays with her pet cat, swims at the beach, and makes many trips to Target.