Sixth grade
Gina and Jillian and Shelbi
(who spelled it with a ‘y’ last year)
take over the swing.
‘move down one,’ Gina bosses
Which is stupid, since everybody knows this is
My swing and the only reason Gina
thinks she is so hot is ‘cause her
sister Jolynne is already in ninth.
No.
there are something like
fifteen other swings
this one’s mine,
you snotty cow
get your own
leave mine alone
go play swingset
somewhere else
I think all that and say
nothing.
They don’t even say thanks.
Gina and Jillian and Shebi
sit, dragging their toes, idly swaying.
their chains rattle, keeping them
close. but going nowhere.
Shelbi has a chocolate Tootsie pop
Gina has grape
(Jillian has braces and isn’t supposed to have candy.)
Gina’s mouth is so full
she is drooling around her stick
I can smell grape all the
way over here
‘so, do you think
Brent Young is hot?
or do you like Lance Dacre?’
omg, they are both so hot!
i know!
squeals.
‘I heard Brent…’
whispers. Secrets
heads together, their chains
clatter, wrapping together
my chains fall straight
holding only
me
thinking.
Lance? My next door neighbor, who
always dares me to shoot his
insulin shots right into his stomach?
Lance, who
used to steal my bigwheel
and now rides his bike in races?
Brent? who is tall and lanky and talks
slow like he might have forgotten
what he was saying?
Lance? with his black hair
and bright blue eyes?
who smells like Daddy’s green soap?
Brent? who is five foot ten, and writes
poems for English?
they came and stole my swing
clattered and tangled the chains
for
BOYS.
for nothing.
well. lance isn’t nothing. quite.
‘It’s a swing set’
I say out loud
‘swing.’
No one hears me
but anyway, I
dig in my heels and push
The chains pull tight
I am pulled back
before grade six
And then I fly free
This week’s picture is aptly named ||| |||| |||, which is exactly what the picture looks like. Cheers to Flickr photographer Bella Bellinsky, which is also a highly melodic name. More words from The Usual Suspects at Ficktion.ning.com.