What I Saw Last Year

by Jonathan O’Such


Crop tops from thrift stores,
cats named Influenza,
bottles of liquor drained of their last drop,
vines on rusted fire escapes,
glasses with wolf cuts
and itchy pink sweaters,
dyed orange hair,
studded boots and jockstraps,
piercings on the face
to draw away from the eyes,
bodies riddled with scars,
one down the spine
and many more underneath,
same spots, different people,
slaps to the cheek
that reverberate every two weeks
until something else draws my eye-
but Her,
warm thumbprint cookies,
collared shirts, tights, and skirts,
crocuses that bloom
next to my favorite tree,
long blonde threads
lined like strings on harps,
falling from a crown of branches-
a portrait,
that will never die, never fade
off of any canvas,
Yes, this year,
I think I’ll sit here for a while.


Jonathan O’Such is a graduating senior majoring in English and Literary Studies with a Creative Writing Concentration. Jonathan has been writing since the age of six and seeks to publish poetry collections in the near future.