13/07/2026

Em

for maybe an hour we sat, 

she did not have to, 

but we sat together 

unscrambling famous paintings. 

her letters much neater than mine and in light blue rather than black. she guessed ‘the last supper’ right away. that helped us get everything else. 

i wore my hand-me-down boots that she said she liked and so i said i 

loved her braided hair- i did- i do and we found letter e finally. 

i messed up the order 

and her friend saw her and said hi, i told him my name and smiled 

and continued my word puzzles 

while they caught up. 

you’re both so radiant, i thought, so why is she sitting with me 

while i wait for class when she could be home and sat by a heater. 

my company can’t be as fulfilling as she needs. 

then i smiled because i remembered she’s my friend too. 

what a lovely pair we make 

and if she had not shone with 

that confidence she shines with and told me her name, 

i would be decoding ‘nighthawks’ by myself 

rather than smiling and 

shining too.