By Remedy Ryan ’21 and Abigail Koerner ’21
I stick out my tongue
letting the cold droplets caress it
Take in the shimmering white
that has covered the trees, the sidewalks, the people
Still, all I can think about is the sea
The sea and me?
Or maybe we?
Pleasant thoughts of fleeting moments flood my memory like the snow which floods the streets. Today, precipitation would fill the void and creep into the spot where you used to sit and smile back at me. Wednesday like an avalanche would tumble down on my heart. They call it a holiday…
holiday by the sea, secretly
I wanna talk about this every day of the year
see, The summer by the ocean
didn’t prepare me for the middle of February
each downpour promising a fresh start
but leaving me numb and unsatisfied
But what if I’m complaining about the weather too much?
I don’t want to be that girl
The one who always yells about being lonely
on days like these
And this Wednesday would haunt me. Take me down and set me free like the baby girl I thought I’d grow up and be. She’s elegant as hell and belongs in a bouquet with all the other roses. She’d be serenaded by the sea like sunlight beaming in when clouds got out of the way. February showers couldn’t wait for April and so it rained instead.
And maybe that’s the real meaning of Valentine’s Day
realizing I am not her but I also am
ugly and beautiful
loved and unloved
Cool girl
Awkward girl
Whisperer of the loudest thoughts
And I can be her again
year after year
storm after storm
This Wednesday like every other Wednesday I’ve ever known to be spent with the girl I love the most. A date for forever with a face I’ve seen before.
Remedy Ryan ’21 (remedyryan@college.harvard.edu) and Abigail Koerner ’21 (ajkoerner@college.harvard.edu) write fiction but not always with company.