You bow your head down
to blow out the candles.
Close your eyes,
count to ten.
The backs of your eyelids
are the color of
the orange flames that waver
as you pucker your lips.
You start to wish for
the same thing you have
every year, someone
you can call yours.
But then you feel a hand
land on your thigh,
stuck to the wooden chair
from summer’s heat.
It would be silly to wish
for what you already have,
but some habits
linger past their stay.
Lauren Good is currently a senior English major at Eastern University with a concentration in Literature and minor in Writing at Eastern University. She plans on continuing her English career at West Chester University in the Fall of 2020, pursuing an MA in Literature.
Inklings Literary Magazine 