insect

Could I get drunk/ lay on your body
You are/ organized well educated
Blue eyes/ shy laugh/ people gravitate towards you
Sensible guy/ Once I told someone I was broken
You are with beautiful successful people/ I am torn between
Countries histories/ Daughter of two opposite People
One decimated universally hated/ One the decimator/ Everyone has forgotten
History is full of tears
Old rotten tapestry whose design has faded
Once I stole a plate after eating coconut cake/ I watch you get drunk with happy faces
Around/ how is it life seems simple
You work/ win/ evolve/ grow
That much activity makes me want to/ forfeit/ crawl
If we all start eating insects/ will I be mistaken for a bug
I was never pretty/ you are strong, with blue eyes
Someday/ me and you/ will look out the window
London has a few foxes roaming the streets/ stay safe/ find warm arms/ heated floors
Please/ find warmth/ so I can watch you
Seeing you/ comforts me/ you know it/ don’t laugh
I don’t want to grow apart/ me a decreasing part/ of you
A bug/ stuck on the carpet/ of your warm floor
Eyes wide open/ to watch you/ always

Juliette lives in between Paris, where she was born, and Cambridge, where she studies. Her short story Ave Casar has been published by Buchet-Chastel in 2020. She is interviews editor for newspaper Varsity.