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November 18, 2016 Poetry

Odyssey

Demond Blake

Odyssey photo

kia and i
laid in bed
listening to
an album she
put on

kia was waiting
for me to
say something
bad about
it since i
had something
bad to say
about everything

“i know you’re going to hate that lyric”
she’d say

“go ahead, tell me how derivative that
solo is”

I’d say nothing

the lyrics were
mellow but the
music had a
bite to it
and occasionally
gave you a
kick in the
ass

then it came

“what do you tell people about us?”

“i tell them we’re figuring each other out.
what do you tell them?”

“that we’re getting to
know each other”

we were inching
to the crossroads

in our
relationship
where definitions
were called for
labels

we both hated all
that

kia didn’t want to
feel like she
was owned by
someone

i guess she didn’t
know no matter
what label was
put on a
person
no one is
capable of
owning anyone
ever

kia’s a hard one
to get anything
out of

she’s either seems
stoic or
indifferent

that was the shit
i used to
pull

it gave me the
upper hand

i was a coward
afraid of
getting hurt

now she has the
upper hand
but i doubt
she thinks
of it that
way

“do you think there’s a certain
someone for everyone?”
she
asked

“like a soul mate”

 “yeah”

“no”

“you don’t think there’s
someone out there better for you?”

“there’s always
someone better
at a glance but
in the end you’d
wish you had
stayed with who
you were with”

“i usually distance
myself from someone
after i’m physical
with them”

“i’m surprised you
haven’t done that
already”

the music
played on

kia turned on
her side to
face the
wall

i laid on my
back staring
at the ceiling

you seldom lose
a person all
at once but
a little bit
at a time

image: Carabella Sands


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