so how was your day?
she forks up midnight-dark cake
drowning in a cloudy tower of whipped cream
scattered with starry chocolate shavings
so because the question hangs from her crumb-smeared lips
because she wants more
than just fine and you or it's okay
I tell her
I tell her of my eyes snapping open at two in the morning
drool plastered to my desk
the room tainted with coffee and dirty laundry from another all-nighter
my laptop unplugged and my essay lost.
I tell her of my red-white dreams
bathed in heat light and flower petals and doe-eyed monsters
of how that trick of light scatters the black white grey
and leaves room for a rainbow
I tell her of the Bs I squeak by on
how I have potential and could really shine
how my raccoon face and raspy toad voice don't go unnoticed
by my professors
I tell her of the odd glances I get from other students
how they speak with their eyes
when my papers burst from my binder
I tell her of the broken AC
of the wintry cold leaking in
and how I'll have to venture beyond the campus for a job.
I tell her of how even if the planets align
even if they clear a path to the moon
and they straighten out the jumble of numbers
I'll be held back by plummeting grades and low wages
and never set foot towards zero-g.
I shut my mouth
empty it of words and stuff it with croissant
and bittersweet latte
sorry it's just my rambling
she doesn't say a word
but there's a flicker of understanding
...so how was your day?
a/n: as a high school student I know where maribel is coming from.