two poems

by Madison B., 16 (she/her)

Does my love scare you?

Atop the highest shelf of the world, 
We sat awkwardly distant from each other, 
Staring away at the same collection of stories and stars, 
That gave way for arbitrary meaning and figures’,
The very same that occupied the measured spaces between us, 

I brushed shoulders with you,

You stilled with discomfort, 
I moved away. 

You were silent for a while. 

I said nothing.

Lies are best kept in certain company, even family

Sitting at the dinner table. 
I have juice in my cup. 
You said you were proud of me. 

I couldn’t bare the pretenses of your pride, so, 
I told you I was different. 
You asked, ‘how so?’
I said, ‘I’ve grown up,
I love in a way unknown to you.’ 
You told me, ‘love is never easy.’ 
I couldn’t keep it in. 

“I’m gay.”

It lingered. 

Dinner went cold that night;
you never mentioned love again. 

New Jersey, United States