Editor’s Note: Introspective Ramblings is Amherst Wire’s poetry column, dedicated to showcasing student’s creative work.

Elemental Flaws

I

I queue like the brume that lifts

when the morning ferries in 

revealing the grime and root

of an olive branch

bark so brittle 

— I reach for its hand

though I shook on 

something I don’t quite 

understand just yet 

II

I once feared that love was just a kite string 

but maybe its two

or just you 

there is nothing delicate 

about the way one feels for

the next 

or how one memory is set

beside the rest 

I beg

to dance 

separate 

in the air

III

Does it make any difference

to leave the water boiling 

Or to turn the stove off 

And let it simmer

 hot

 slow 

bubbles drip

      down the edge of a metal pot

 they steam all the same 

I stay in the shower long enough

      to prune and fold the flats

of my skin 

I would be lying if I said 

 I didn’t like to ruminate 

        in it

IV

I watched a candlelight bend

in rhythmic arrangement 

                  not a breath in the

                  world

                  to knock it to sleep

                 I try to emulate it

I struck a match against 

              the hem of my jeans;

                   the carpet; drywall

                                     the edge of my teeth 

—a flint in the making 

             It didn’t light

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