Reminiscent odd duck blues by Charles Carr

Reminiscent odd duck blues

The sky was always cloudy
when I was fifteen
and the bell rang at noon
and I was the new kid
for a third straight year;
the cafeteria fear of alone,
how clean and quiet
the bathroom was,
its four sinks,
their separate mirrors,
my reflection in each
as though me and all my friends
washed our hands
before we stood and stared
through the fold out windows.
How strange it would have seemed
if anyone knew I was alive,
how my sandwich didn’t last
more than five minutes
which left at least twenty
to go over the words
I would never have the nerve
to say to the girl
with the hair as long and dark
as a February afternoon.

by Charles Carr

Twitter: @selfrisinmojo

Editor’s Note: This poem is a lovely example of how the marriage of imagery and narrative can create a complex emotional space.