PRESS TO PLAY

Middle of Somewhere

Vaguely behind every winter of ambition

Their eyes warm, and cookies sleep deeply through problems

Hard-boiled eggs and children stretching

And the days try not to half

Playing football in a science school

You try to fit in a cool shirt, overdressed, overqualified

Youth cooled down while you put your ti—around your neck—red

Spring cheats with a smile where passion left

Spotted beard pretends to know

Wake up to midlife

Crisis baked and served

Problems with morning cereal

Laundry worn too many times

White lies

Small sigh of relief or reminisce

Errant Minutes

This morning lasted four seconds—

long enough for light to change its mind,

for the pot to think of boiling,

and forget.

Steam from the mug hadn’t even reached its curve

before light slipped from the table

and onto the wall,

then off again.

Voice folded into the air,

before the phone could ring its tune.

It waited there—

certain, I would need it later.

As light finally held still,

and my reflection—

breathing where I’d left it.

The air stiffened

and across that pause,

something small and weightless unfolded in my hands—

not sound,

but just the quiet after it.

Press to Play

Light spills across my face,

portraits of other lives glowing brighter than mine.

Smiles freeze in rectangles,

perfect mornings that never end.

I scroll until faces blur into one long pulse of brightness,

casting a shadow behind me of everything I’m not.

An afterimage hums behind my eyes,

light submerges into darkness

until I only see sounds.

Footsteps cross the ceiling like timpani,

each one tracking the same path

as the neighbors pace through my dream.

The alarm rings.

I press the same button,

promise the same five more minutes.

Light seeps through the curtain seam,

thin as a paper cut.

I move between bells,

each hallway reflecting the last.

I return to the room that remembers my shape—

the sunset dyes the linen orange.

Light seeps through to print a shadow

of everything I am.

The same blur of blue waiting,

soft, faithful as breath.

Sally Lee is a student at an international school in Seoul, South Korea. Immersed in a multicultural environment, she draws inspiration from the diverse cultures and experiences around her. She is currently working on her writing portfolio.