By: Chloe Bausano
I. A menagerie of memories
Kaleidoscope as cowlicked
Waves push me into the
Sand.
Incited nostalgia
Whips naivete around
The cul’d’sac: daydreams
Dissolve reality.
II.
5 years old I cannot ride
My bicycle, which replaced
The tricycle, and when my dad reaches
Over to help me up I yell “DON’T TOUCH IT” And kick the fallen bike until I pick it up,
Get on, and pedal
Away.
I think about running away for no
Other reason than that Wendy ran away,
And by the time I realize Peter Pan is
A ghost, and Neverland is a made up place
Where dead children go, I have grown out
Of the daydream.
III.
A shard of seaglass pierces my side and
The sand runs out faster than I can catch it,
Hands out, palms up.
My eyes open and the sun is blazing
And my lungs are burning
So I do not step foot in the ocean for
The rest of the summer.
I watch shark week the next year
And decide to get back in.
Most shark attacks happen in five feet
Of water or less, so I swim until
I cannot touch the ground.
Chloe is an emerging poet who recently graduated from Cornell University with a degree in English Literature. Her free verse poetry captures fleeting moments of nostalgia and focuses on answering questions like 'what is a crunchy word?' and 'what does it mean to love?' An avid reader, Chloe can generally be found lost in a bookstore in search of the next adventure.