Sunday, Someday

By Sallie Choi

I.

and how lucky we are, to sit here

emboldened by the sun growing ever-bolder

over the treeline. the tangerine is warm in your hand

and the rays of light are lapping up the last of the morning dew

greedily. you seem to bloom in the persistent glow,

and i cannot help but want to press this moment into my

memory like a freshly-fallen petal.

II.

and how funny want is, intermingling with

greed in a throat-burning concoction that i choke down

with increasing conviction; a childlike faith grounds me now,

grown from a mustard seed of hope. and the apple is thrusted

into my mouth, helpless in the face of possibility. i seem

to see inklings of it in yours.

III.

and how uncertain it can be, fear woven into the

fabric of unfamiliarity with nimble fingers. the plum is

soft in the brown paper bag as it ripens and raisins

in the embrace of the summer sun. and the light

wants to see us, nosing at your nape and

sinking into your eyes like syrup. and what is life for, if not to

let the heaving burden of opportunity cost roll

off of my shoulders like rainfall on my slicker.

IV.

and how fiercely hesitation has been hammered

into our generation, answers hidden under shining, silver

domes, untouched for fear of getting burned. but we are

left here on earth with the taste of regret heavy on our tongues,

throats unprepared for the brusk nature of remorse.

and for all of my bellyaching, i still swallow

down the bubbles of regret that try to fall from my lips.

V .

and how lucky we are, to feel the sun-warmed pavement on

our palms. how lucky we are to hesitate at the joys of life

in fear of indulging in too much? i have remained a sitting duck

at the sun dying many deaths, wasting each one in the

endless pursuit of coating the pill of sadness in low expectations.

and maybe we should listen this time, to the regrets and what they

beget; we can survive the storms, as we know that the sun

is just lying in wait.

Sallie is a high school junior in Arizona. In her free time, she likes to play the bass guitar, teach art classes, and bake. Her favorite poet is Frank O’Hara.