This is a poem-in-progress by high school student Chelsea Zhu, one of the first two mentees in Cultural Daily’s free writing mentorship program. Chelsea has been working with mentor Micah Ruelle.
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jarfly
“—love was both in / and out of the question”
—Jennifer Whalen
whitewater→days by the rapids→and flash flood warnings→when the rafts push back on
waterfoam→like spinning teacups→like milk in a bowl→like homemade whipped cream→like
water and danger could save you and me→from our own smell→from jumping across straw
bales→and falling→the barn shadow→making up its own space→to this story→down the left
there’s the dairy bar→with never enough Marasca cherries to eat→and we keep coming
back→to the hardest question→of choosing the marshmallow swirl or chocolate fudge
scoop→you insisted on the first bite→never being both→and butterscotch syrup sliding down
our hands→now→that haying season was taken for granted→and forever is just a word→and
they turned the tunnel into a headline→and I tried so hard to come back→like the raft plunging
to a hard tug→like a curving line→and we would almost drop inside→the river→like if I could
just fall to save this place→when we were too scared to raft at night→so we lied on straw
bales→and listened to the sound of a jarfly→and I asked when we wanted to release these
jars→of peach jars or gift jars→empty them to take up their own space→and you’d choose to
put a jarfly inside→that we could believe we weren’t trapped→inside a mountain→and told me
one day→their wings can fly freely to nowhere→and roads could drive beyond what’s on the
map→and arrows can point freely to nothing→and the nothing becomes→it becomes its own
thing→and grows→two knees→buckling
| whitewater days | like water could save you and me |
| and we keep coming back | never being both |
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(Featured image from Pexels)