Oh, Such A "Trying" Time!

By, Wendiann Alfieri

I was given a rose, by my friend the other day

A porcelain rose

It was light as air

But you had to be gentle

One little slip would be detrimental

I went home

And put it on display

A fragile thing

Still beautiful it was

Grazing company would become gazing irony

Everyone afraid to drop it

But still wanted to hold it

But I was the only one

Who really cared if it broke

The company would turn after it broke

And look at something happier

Than the spikes of rose over the floor

Blood spilling on my feet

I was the one who owned it, owned the place

I didn’t own the company

The people thought of as friends, they were

But as the one

Who invited them in

I had to clean up the mess

They so graciously provided

As a memory

To replace the happy one

First given to me to one I still call friend

A while later

I was so young

And with my clique

Gathering around in a mall

They wore heels

And stood tall

Confident and not ready to fall

They encourage me with their eyes

Grazing company would become gazing fools

I turned around

And look in the back

Where there was beautiful heels

This pair was decorated

With little gems and design so sacred

I stepped into them

The perfect fit

Until I saw my friends bored of waiting

Turning around and out the door

As I was trying not to fall

They promised they’d help me stand

The shoes fit perfect

But my balance didn’t

As I fall

One heel breaking

As I fall down

And collapsed on someone elses grounds

It was my responsibility

To make an exchange

Whether it was my fault for breaking merchandise

Or not

Some time later

I was standing

In a crowd

No one who knew me

No one to hate me

And I knew no one

And I hated no one

I dug through my purse it’s my world in my hands

I pulled out some mints

And let them dissolve on my tongue

As the vendors cry

Advertising food

And everyone flocks to them like crows

Dollar bills floating in the wind

As one slips through a mans fingertips

I pocket it

And walk down the crossing path

And walk down to my place

No longer shrouded in mystery

Just a simple building

But I walked past it

And I saw a little convience store

And I opened the door

And the bell dings

To warn them of my awakening

I looked around

I spotted a rack with candies

I looked at the sweets

Jelly beans and Cinnamon candy and cupcakes and chocolate

I picked up my candy of choice

And paid the dollar

And went out on my way

I open the package crinkle crinkle the sound makes

And proceed to enjoy

In a world of cupcakes and chocolate

I’ve never had much to taste

Black Licorice is my choice of candy

The bitter taste grounds me

In a world where bitter doesn’t always outweigh sweet

I grew up in a world of crashes and clash

In a world where everything

Comes at expense

The world may not burn

But the hearts inside us might

Catch on fire

Gasoline equals no chance of flight

In a world where our offspring thrive

We should have apologized

And can not compromise

For we are now the ash they leave behind

The ash we leave behind

The dust on our boots

That we shake outside

To not contaminate

What is left of us

But all I can see

Is the remnants

Through the wind

As I am pushed out

From under

Those fancy heels

But they don’t belong

Here

They never did

Those laughing boys and girls

They used to think they mattered

Now in dust, they too,

Were sentenced